THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL 


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Atlantic  Highlands,  N    J.,   1905. 

My  dear  Sir:  — 

I  take  pleasure  in  handing  you  this 
copy  of  nay  latest  study  of  Daniel.  Severe 
criticism  of  its  contents  will  be  greatly 
appreciated,  for  I  propose  that  future 
editions  shall  be  as  free  from  errors  as  it 
is  possible  to  make  them. 

Thanking     you    in    advance    for    your 
polite  attention,  believe  me, 
Sincerely  yours, 

W.  S.   AUCHINCLOSS 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL 


UNLOCKED 


w 


W.  S.  AUCHINCLOSS,  C.B. 

AUTHOR     OF     "LINK    AND    VALVE    MOTIONS"      (PUBLISHED    IN     BERLIN    AS, 

SCHEIBER-UND   COULISSENSTEURUNGEN.        PUBLISHED   IN    HOLLAND 

AS,   STOOMSCHUIF-EN  SCHAARBEWEGINEN).         AUTHOR    OF 

"  NINETY      DAYS      IN     THE      TROPICS,"     ALSO     OF 

"  WATERS    WITHIN    THE     EARTH    AND 

LAWS   OF  RAINFALL  " 


INTRODUCTION   BY 


A.  H>  SAYCE,  LL.D. 

Queen's  College,  Oxford,  England 


NEW  YORK 

FOB  SALB   BY 

D.  VAN  NOSTRAND   COMPANY 

SCIENTIFIC  BOOK  PUBLISHERS 

23  MURRAY  STREET 

1905 


Copyright,  1905 

BY 

W.  S.  AUCHINCLOSS 


DORNAN,  PRINTER, 
PHILADELPHIA 


^%e*£'£ic&£Lt5£  2&/— 


Queen's  College,  Oxford. 

September  4,  1902. 

Mr.  Auchincloss  has  asked  me  to  prefix  a  few- 
words  of  introduction  to  his  book: 

There  is  little  to  say,  as  the  book  tells  its  own  tale 
— clear  and  to  the  point. 

He  has  very  rightly  taken  the  sidereal  year  as  the 
basis  of  his  calculations;  any  other  system  of  com- 
putation ends  only  in  difficulties. 

But  the  reader  will  find  other  novelties,  not  the 
least  among  them  being  the  fact  that  the  prophecies 
of  Daniel  are  made  to  end  with  the  beginning  of  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church,  instead  of  lengthen- 
ing out  into  a  still  unknown  future;  this  is  a  great 
advance  on  previous  interpreters.  And  he  will 
doubtless  be  struck  by  calculations  according  to 
which  the  1290  Days  of  the  Hebrew  Prophet  ter- 
minated in  a.d.  33. 


6Y.    /I*     V  <a^cji 

(7) 


Assouan,  Egypt, 

January  17,  1905. 

Thus  far  I  had  written  in  1902.  Since  then  the 
public  has  shown  that  it  can  appreciate  good  work 
by  the  rapidity  with  which  copy  after  copy  of  Mr. 
Auchincloss'  little  book  has  been  called  for.  It  is 
now  issued  once  more  with  additions  and  improve- 
ments, but  otherwise  in  an  unchanged  form. 

There  is  one  paragraph  in  it  to  which  the  Assyri- 
ologist  is  now  able  to  add  a  few  words.  Mr.  x^uchin- 
closs  draws  attention  to  the  sense  of  completeness 
and  perfection  which  is  associated  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, not  only  with  the  number  seven,  but  also 
with  the  number  ten.  It  has  long  been  known  that 
the  Babylonians  possessed  a  week  of  seven  days. 
But  it  is  only  recently  that  I  have  pointed  out  that 
they  also  possessed  a  week  of  five  days.  Besides  the 
week  of  five  days,  however,  there  was  a  double 
week  of  ten  days,  the  month  consisting  of  thirty 
days  and  being  divided  into  three  equal  parts. 


a.H 


<2L>»— % 


oe 


(8) 


PREFACE. 


This  study  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  is  based  on  the 
conviction,  that  its  word  is  in  very  deed  the  Word 
of  God.  In  approaching  the  subject  we  have  brought 
to  the  solution  of  its  problems  only  such  numerals 
as  were  known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews  and  to  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament.  Numerals  that 
were  symbolized  in  their  feasts  and  were  current 
before  times  of  rejoicing.  But  towering  over  all, 
we  have  brought  God's  own  standard  of  time,  viz: 
the  sidereal  year,  which  the  greatest  of  modern 
astronomers  Laplace  and  Herschel  tell  us  has  not 
varied  the  j^-q  part  of  a  second  of  time  in  the  last 
2000  years.  We  did  so  under  the  conviction  that 
if  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  of  human  origin,  a  piece 
of  historic  fiction,  it  could  not  stand  this  severe  test, 
yet  if  it  was  truly  the  Word  of  God  it  would  be  found 
resting  on  that  bed  rock,  viz:  — 
a  year  whose  length  was 

365  days,  6  hours,  9  minutes  and  9^  seconds, 

a  period  unknown  to  the  ancients  but  given  to  us 
by  modern  science.  The  Book  has  stood  the  test 
and  its  true  character  comes  out  in  bold  relief. 

(9) 


10  PREFACE 

Without  a  perfectly  fitting  key,  the  tendency  of 
its  readers  is  to  treat  the  Book  lightly,  call  in  ques- 
tion its  statements  and  smile  at  its  prophecies. 
Time,  however,  vindicates  the  statements  of  Daniel 
and  fixes  on  them  the  seal  of  truth.  Also,  newly- 
found  inscriptions  both  on  rocks  and  tablets,  together 
with  ancient  writings  composed  in  those  times, 
bring  to  confusion  adverse  criticism. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  is  a  most  important  part  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  is  set  like  a  gem  among  jewels. 
Its  words  of  warning  were  sounded  600  years  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus.  Its  prophe- 
cies are  like  mile-stones  along  the  highway  of  Jewish 
history,  each  one  bringing  the  observer  nearer  to 
Messiah's  kingdom,  to  that  "Great  and  Notable 
day  of  the  Lord" — Pentecost  of  a.d.  33 — when  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  manifested  to  the  Jews,  also  nearer 
to  a.d.  39,  the  year  of  the  manifestation  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. Daniel  alone  of  all  the  prophets  received 
Divine  illumination  regarding  these  dates.  They 
mark  the  remotest  boundary  of  his  book,  and  there- 
fore bar  the  way  to  fanciful  conclusions  in  regard 
to  later  times.  Read  aright,  Daniel's  words  have 
no  uncertain  sound,  they  are  definite  and  exact  like 
the  forecast  of  an  astronomer. 

Viewed    from    every    standpoint    the    grand    old 


PREFACE  11 

President  of  the  Chaldean  Court  had  a  character 
of  rare  beauty  and  symmetry,  that  will  continue  to 
shine  throughout  the  ages.  He  will  stand  in  his  lot 
to  the  end  of  the  days;  the  noblest  example  of  human 
courage  coupled  with  unquestioning  faith,  the 
typical  companion,  the  nobleman,  courtier,  seer  and 
Prophet; — a  man  greatly  beloved! 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction  by  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.D. 
Preface  ...... 


PAGE 

7 
9 


The  Book  of  Daniel,  with  interpretation. 
Part    I.  Historic  Section 
Part  II.  Prophetic  Section     . 


17-49 
53-85 


NOTES. 

Notes.  Jewish  Independence  Day           ...  91 

A.  Darius,  or  Cyaxares  .....  95 

B.  The  Sum  of  the  Matters       ....  99 

C.  Days 103 

D.  Two  Thousand  and  Three  Hundred  Days     .  107 

E.  The  Exodus  from  Persia     .          .          .          .  113 

F.  Date  of  the  Crucifixion       .          .          .          .  115 


CHRONOLOGY. 

The  Birth  of  Christ.    [See  accompanying  Chart]  .  121 

Years  in  the  Life  of  Christ       .  .  .  .  .  127 

Years  in  the  Life  of  Herod  .  .  .  .  129 

Asmonean  Dynasty        .  .  .  .  .  .  131 

Reigns  of  the  Chaldean  and  Medo-Persian  Kings  .  133 

(13) 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL. 


PART  I. 


HISTORIC  SECTION. 

CHAPTER  I.     [Written  in  Hebrew]. 

1.  In  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of 
B.C.  606.  Jehoiakim  king  of  Judah  came  Nebuchad- 
nezzar king  of  Babylon  unto  Jerusalem, 
and  besieged  it.-— This  siege  took  place  in  B.C.  606. 
Verse  5  says  that  Daniel  and  the  royal  captives  re- 
ceived 3  years'  training  and  verse  18  shows  that  at 
the  end  of  3  years  they  graduated.  This  brings  us 
to  the  year  B.C.  603  which  chapter  2  verse  1  says  was 
the  2nd  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign,  consequently 
Nebuchadnezzar  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  605.  This 
date  agrees  with  the  figures  given  in  the  Almagesta 
of  Ptolemy,  also  with  the  statements  of  Berosus. 
Besides  it  harmonizes  perfectly  the  Bible  account 
of  the  first  5  years  in  Jehoiakim's  reign,  as  set  forth 
in  Jeremiah  xxv,  xxvi,  xxvn,  xxxv,  xxxvi,  xlv,  xlvi, 
and  II  Kings  xxiv.  Still  further  a  draughtsman  can 
plot  it  on  a  chart,  with  the  same  accuracy  that  a 
surveyor  can  map  a  piece  of  land,  provided  he  gov- 
erns his  work  by  that  remarkable  group  of  locking- 
dates  set  forth  in  Jeremiah  xxv.  1.  2.  3.  and  Ezekiel 
XL,  1,  also  takes  full  account  of  the  historic  events 
which  happened  in  the  1st,  7th,  8th,  18th,  and  19th 
(17) 


18  HISTORIC  SECTION 

years  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign.  It  thus  will  be- 
come manifest  that  Daniel  and  his  companions  were 
taken  captive  in  the  Summer  of  B.C.  606. 

2.  And  the  Lord  gave  Jehoiakim  king  of  Judah 
into  his  hand,  with  part  of  the  vessels  of  the  house 
of  God :  which  he  carried  into  the  land  of  Shinar  to 
the  house  of  his  god :  and  he  brought  the  vessels  into 
the  treasure  house  of  his  god. 

As  foretold  in  Jeremiah  xxix.  10.  the  captivity  of 
Judah  lasted  70  years,  B.C.  606  to  B.C.  536,  when  the 
Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Cyrus  to  proclaim  free- 
dom to  the  captives.    Ezra  1st.  chap.   Isaiah  xliv.  28. 

3.  And  the  king  spake  unto  Ashpenaz  the  master 
of  his  eunuchs,  that  he  should  bring  certain  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  of  the  king's  seed,  and  of  the 
princes ; 

4.  Children  in  whom  was  no  blemish,  but  well 
favoured,  and  skilful  in  all  wisdom,  and  cunning  in 
knowledge,  and  understanding  science,  and  such  as 
had  ability  in  them  to  stand  in  the  king's  palace,  and 
whom  they  might  teach  the  learning  and  the  tongue 
of  the  Chaldeans.  —  Precisely  as  foretold  by  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  more  than  a  century  prior  to  the 
event.     Isaiah  xxxix.  7. 

5.  And  the  king  appointed  them  a  daily  provision 
of  the  king's  meat,  and  of  the  wine  which  he  drank: 
so  nourishing  them  three  years,  that  at  the  end 
thereof  they  might  stand  before  the  king. 

6.  Now  among  these  were  of  the  children  of  Judah, 
Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah: 


DANIEL  I  19 

7.  Unto  whom  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  gave 
names:  for  he  gave  unto  Daniel  the  name  of  Belte- 
shazzar;  and  to  Hananiah,  of  Shadrach;  and  to  Mish- 
ael,  of  Meshach;  and  to  Azariah,  of  Abed-nego. 

8.  But  Daniel  purposed  in  his  heart  that  he  would 
not  defile  himself  with  the  portion  of  the  king's  meat, 
nor  with  the  wine  which  he  drank :  therefore  he  re- 
quested of  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  that  he  might 
not  defile  himself. — "  Though  these  three  men, 
Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  were  in  it,  they  should 
deliver  but  their  own  souls  by  their  righteousness." 
Ezekiel  xiv.  14.  Note  in  passing,  that  by  order  of 
birth  these  names  should  be  read  Noah,  Job  and 
Daniel.  However,  according  to  a  custom  common 
among  the  writers  of  Scripture,  the  line  of  Divine 
favor  was  followed  in  preference  to  the  order  of 
birth.  For  example,  Japheth,  Ham,  Shem  was  the 
order  of  birth;  but  the  records  stands:  "These  are 
the  generations  of  the  sons  of  Noah;  Shem,  Ham  and 
Japheth."  So  too  we  read  of  "  Abram,  Nahor,  and 
Haran  "  when  the  order  of  birth  was  Haran,  Nahor 
and  Abram.  Also  of  "  Aaron  and  Moses  and 
Miriam,"  when  the  true  order  was  Miriam,  Aaron 
and  Moses. 

9.  Now  God  had  brought  Daniel  into  favour  and 
tender  love  with  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs. 

10.  And  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  said  unto  Daniel, 
I  fear  my  lord  the  king,  who  hath  appointed  your 
meat  and  your  drink:  for  why  should  he  see  your 
faces  worse  liking  than  the  children  which  are  of 


20  HISTORIC  SECTION 

your  sort  ?  then  shall  ye  make  me  endanger  my  head 
to  the  king. 

11.  Then  said  Daniel  to  Melzar,  whom  the  prince 
of  the  eunuchs  had  set  over  Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mis- 
hael,  and  Azariah, 

12.  Prove  thy  servants,  I  beseech  thee,  ten  days; 
and  let  them  give  us  pulse  to  eat,  and  water  to 
drink. 

The  Scriptures  everywhere  associate  a  sense  of 
completeness  and  perfection  with  the  numeral  7, 
also  with  the  numeral  10.  The  Mosaic  Law  teems 
with  instances  of  this  sort.  A  Sabbatic  period  cov- 
ered 7  years.  Sprinklings  were  administered  7 
times,  feasts  lasted  7  days,  priests  carried  7  trumpets, 
Jericho  was  compassed  7  times,  Naaman  bathed  7 
times  in  the  Jordan,  a  servant  bowed  7  times  to 
his  lord  and  so  on.  As  to  the  numeral  10,  the 
Law  had  10  commandments,  the  tabernacle  had 
10  curtains,  10  pillars,  10  sockets.  After  the  Israel- 
ites had  tempted  the  Lord  10  times,  they  were 
condemned  to  die  in  the  wilderness.  Ten  plagues 
were  inflicted  on  the  Egyptians.  In  the  matter 
of  taxation,  the  herd  was  divided  into  10  parts 
and  one  part  set  aside  for  the  Lord. 

When  Nebuchadnezzar  tested  Daniel  and  his 
companions,  "he  found  them  10  times  better  than 
all  the  magicians  and  astrologers.' '  Thus  we  see 
plainly  that  the  numerals  7  and  10  conveyed  the 
idea  of  completeness  and  perfection  to  the  Hebrew 
mind. 


DANIEL  I  21 

13.  Then  let  our  countenances  be  looked 
r..c.  603   upon  before  thee,  and  the  countenance  of 
the  children  that  eat  of  the  portion  of  the 
king's  meat:  and  as  thou  seest,  deal  with  thy  ser- 
vants. 

14.  So  he  consented  to  them  in  this  matter,  and 
proved  them  ten  days. 

15.  And  at  the  end  of  ten  days  their  countenances 
appeared  fairer  and  fatter  in  flesh  than  all  the  chil- 
dren which  did  eat  the  portion  of  the  king's  meat. 

16.  Thus  Melzar  took  away  the  portion  of  their 
meat,  and  the  wine  that  they  should  drink;  and  gave 
them  pulse. 

17.  As  for  these  four  children,  God  gave  them 
knowledge  and  skill  in  all  learning  and  wisdom :  and 
Daniel  had  understanding  in  all  visions  and  dreams. 
—  "  Behold  art  thou  wiser  than  Daniel."  Ezekiel 
xxviii.  3. 

18.  Now  at  the  end  of  the  days  that  the  king  had 
said  he  should  bring  them  in,  then  the  prince  of  the 
eunuchs  brought  them  in  before  Nebuchadnezzar. 
At  the  end  of  the  3  years  spoken  of  in  verse  5. 

19.  And  the  king  communed  with  them;  and 
among  them  all  was  found  none  like  Daniel,  Hana- 
niah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah:  therefore  stood  they 
before  the  king. 

20.  And  in  all  matters  of  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing, that  the  king  enquired  of  them,  he  found  them 
ten  times  better  than  all  the  magicians  and  astrolo- 
gers that  v.re  in  all  his  realm. 


22  HISTORIC  SECTION 

21.  And  Daniel  continued  even  unto  the  first  year 
of  king  Cyrus. 

Cyrus  began  to  reign,  as  king  of  Persia  in  B.C.  558, 
just  twenty  years  prior  to  his  conquest  of  Babylon 
in  B.C.  538.  The  verse  of  course  refers  to  the  first 
year  of  his  reign  as  king  of  Babylon.  In  the  follow- 
ing chapter  the  narrative  goes  back  to  B.C.  603 
which  as  already  explained  was  the  2nd  year  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  individual  reign.  His  father 
Nabopolassar  was  still  on  the  throne  in  B.C.  606, 
but  on  his  death  in  B.C.  605  Nebuchadnezzar  re- 
turned at  once  to  Babylon  and  was  made  king,  with 
full  authority. 


CHAPTER  II.     [Hebrew  and  Syriac] 

1.  And  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign 
B.C.  603.  of       Nebuchadnezzar,       Nebuchadnezzar 
dreamed  dreams,  wherewith  his  spirit  was 
troubled,  arid  his  sleep  brake  from  him. 

2.  Then  the  king  commanded  to  call  the  magicians, 
and  the  astrologers,  and  the  sorcerers,  and  the 
Chaldeans,  for  to  show  the  king  his  dreams.  So 
they  came  and  stood  before  the  king. 

3.  And  the  king  said  unto  them,  I  have  dreamed  a 
dream,  and  my  spirit  was  troubled  to  know  the  dream. 

From  this  point  to  the  end  of  the  vi  chapter  Daniel 
wrote  in  the  Syriac  language.  The  rest  of  the  book 
was  written  in  Hebrew.  In  our  own  day  men  of 
affairs  converse  and  write  in  several  languages. 
Evidently  one  who  was  fitted  to  preside  over  120 
princes  had  many  languages  at  his  command. 

4.  Then  spake  the  Chaldeans  to  the  king  in 
Syriack,  O  king,  live  for  ever;  tell  thy  servants  the 
dream,  and  we  will  shew  the  interpretation. 

5.  The  king  answered  and  said  to  the  Chaldeans, 
The  thing  is  gone  from  me :  if  ye  will  not  make  known 
unto  me  the  dream,  with  the  interpretation  thereof, 
ye  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  your  houses  shall  be 
made  a  dunghill. 

6.  But  if  ye  shew  the  dream,  and  the  interpretation 
thereof,  ve  shall  receive  of  me  gifts  and  rewards  and 

(23) 


24  HISTORIC  SECTION 

great  honour:  therefore  shew  me  the  dream,  and  the 
interpretation  thereof. 

7.  They  answered  again  and  said,  Let  the  king 
tell  his  servants  the  dream,  and  we  will  shew  the 
interpretation  of  it. 

8.  The  king  answered  and  said,  I  know  of  cer- 
tainty that  ye  would  gain  the  time,  because  ye  see 
the  thing  is  gone  from  me. 

9.  But  if  ye  will  not  make  known  unto  me  the 
dream,  there  is  but  one  decree  for  you:  for  ye  have 
prepared  lying  and  corrupt  words  to  speak  before 
me,  till  the  time  be  changed:  therefore  tell  me  the 
dream,  and  I  shall  know  that  ye  can  shew  me  the 
interpretation  thereof. 

10.  The  Chaldeans  answered  before  the  king,  and 
said,  There  is  not  a  man  upon  the  earth  that  can 
shew  the  king's  matter:  therefore  there  is  no  king, 
lord,  nor  ruler,  that  asked  such  things  at  any 
magician,  or  astrologer,  or  Chaldean. 

11.  And  it  is  a,  rare  thing  that  the  king  requireth, 
and  there  is  none  other  that  can  shew  it  before  the 
king,  except  the  gods,  whose  dwelling  is  not  with  flesh. 

12.  For  this  cause  the  king  was  angry  and  very 
furious,  and  commanded  to  destroy  all  the  wise  men 
of  Babylon. 

13.  And  the  decree  went  forth  that  the  wise  men 
should  be  slain;  and  they  sought  Daniel  and  his 
fellows  to  be  slain. 

14.  Then  Daniel  answered  with  counsel  and  wis- 
dom  to   Arioch  the   captain   of  the  king's  guard, 


DANIEL  II  25 

which   was   gone   forth   to    slay   the   wise    men   of 
Babylon : 

15.  He  answered  and  said  to  Arioch  the  king's 
captain,  Why  is  the  decree  so  hasty  from  the  king? 
Then  Arioch  made  the  thing  known  to  Daniel. 

16.  Then  Daniel  went  in,  and  desired  of  the  king 
that  he  would  give  him  time,  and  that  he  would 
shew  the  king  the  interpretation. 

17.  Then  Daniel  went  to  his  house,  and  made  the 
thing  known  to  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah, 
his  companions: 

18.  That  they  would  desire  mercies  of  the  God  of 
heaven  concerning  this  secret;  that  Daniel  and  his 
fellows  should  not  perish  with  the  rest  of  the  wise 
men  of  Babylon. 

19.  Then  was  the  secret  revealed  unto  Daniel  in  a 
night  vision.  Then  Daniel  blessed  the  God  of 
heaven. 

20.  Daniel  answered  and  said,  Blessed  be  the 
name  of  God  for  ever  and  ever:  for  wisdom  and 
might  are  his: 

21.  And  he  changeth  the  times  and  the  seasons: 
he  removeth  kings,  and  setteth  up  kings:  he  giveth 
wisdom  unto  the  wise,  and  knowledge  to  them  that 
know  understanding: 

22.  He  revealeth  the  deep  and  secret  things:  he 
knoweth  what  is  in  the  darkness,  and  the  light 
dwelleth  with  him. 

23.  I  thank  thee,  and  praise  thee,  O  thou  God  of 
my  fathers,  who  hast  given  me  wisdom  and  might 


26  HISTORIC  SECTION 

and  hast  made  known  unto  me  now  what  we  desired 
of  thee:  for  thou  hast  now  made  known  unto  us  the 
king's  matter. 

24.  Therefore  Daniel  went  in  unto  Arioch,  whom 
the  king  had  ordained  to  destroy  the  wise  men  of 
Babylon:  he  went  and  said  thus  unto  him;  Destroy 
not  the  wise  men  of  Babylon :  bring  me  in  before  the 
king,  and  I  will  shew  unto  the  king  the  interpreta- 
tion. 

25.  Then  Arioch  brought  in  Daniel  before  the 
king  in  haste,  and  said  thus  unto  him,  I  have  found 
a  man  of  the  captives  of  Judah,  that  will  make 
known  unto  the  king  the  interpretation. 

26.  The  king  answered  and  said  to  Daniel,  whose 
name  was  Belteshazzar,  Art  thou  able  to  make 
known  unto  me  the  dream  which  I  have  seen,  and 
the  interpretation  thereof? 

27.  Daniel  answered  in  the  presence  of  the  king, 
and  said,  The  secret  which  the  king  hath  demanded 
cannot  the  wise  men,  the  astrologers,  the  magicians, 
the  soothsayers,  shew  unto  the  king; 

28.  But  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  that  revealeth 
secrets,  and  maketh  known  to  the  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar what  shall  be  in  the  latter  days.  Thy  dream, 
and  the  visions  of  thy  head  upon  thy  bed,  are 
these : 

29.  As  for  thee,  O  king,  thy  thoughts  came  into 
thy  mind  upon  thy  bed,  what  should  come  to  pass 
hereafter:  and  he  that  revealeth  secrets  maketh 
known  to  thee  what  shall  come  to  pass. 


DANIEL  II  27 

30.  But  as  for  me,  this  secret  is  not  revealed  to  me 
for  any  wisdom  that  I  have  more  than  any  living, 
but  for  their  sakes  that  shall  make  known  the  inter- 
pretation to  the  king,  and  that  thou  mightest  know 
the  thoughts  of  thy  heart. 

31.  Thou,  O  king,  sawest,  and  behold  a  great 
image.  This  great  image,  whose  brightness  was 
excellent,  stood  before  thee;  and  the  form  thereof 
was  terrible. 

32.  This  image's  head  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast 
and  his  arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs  of 
brass, 

33.  His  legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part 
of  clay. 

34.  Thou  sawest  till  that  a  stone  was  cut  out  with- 
out hands,  which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet  that 
were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  pieces. 

35.  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  sil- 
ver, and  the  gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and 
became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshingfloors ; 
and  the  wind  carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was 
found  for  them:  and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image 
became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole  earth. 

36.  This  is  the  dream;  and  we  will  tell  the  inter- 
pretation thereof  before  the  king. 

37.  Thou,  O  king,  art  a  king  of  kings:  for  the  God 
of  heaven  hath  given  thee  a  kingdom,  power,  and 
strength,  and  glory. 

38.  And  wheresoever  the  children  of  men  dwell, 
the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven 


28  HISTORIC  SECTION 

hath  he  given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee 
ruler  over  them  all.    Thou  art  this  head  of  gold. 

39.  And  after  thee  shall  arise  another  kingdom 
inferior  to  thee  —  the  Medo-Persian  —  and  an- 
other third  kingdom  of  brass,  which  shall  bear  rule 
over  all  the  earth  —  the  Macedonian. 

40.  And  the  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  as  strong  as 
iron :  —  the  Roman  Empire  —  forasmuch  as  iron 
breaketh  in  pieces  and  subdueth  all  things:  and  as 
iron  that  breaketh  all  these,  shall  it  break  in  pieces 
and  bruise. 

41.  And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet  and  toes, 
part  of  potters'  clay,  and  part  of  iron,  the  kingdom 
shall  be  divided;  but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the 
strength  of  the  iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  the 
iron  mixed  with  miry  clay. 

42.  And  as  the  toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of  iron, 
and  part  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall  be  partly 
strong,  and  partly  broken. 

43.  And  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed  with 
miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  themselves  with  the  seed 
of  men:  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another, 
even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay. 

44.  And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God 
of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other 
people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all 
these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever. 

The  birth  of  Christ  took  place  in  B.C.  2,  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  the  Roman  Empire.     The  angel 


DANIEL  II  29 

Gabriel  declared,  thou  "shalt  call  his  name  Jesus. 
He  shall  be  great  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest;  and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the 
throne  of  his  father  David;  and  he  shall  reign  over 
the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever;  and  of  his  kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end/' — Luke  i.  31. — The  right 
of  taxation  is  the  prerogative  of  sovereign  power. 
When  therefore  Augustus  Caesar  began  to  enroll  the 
Jews  for  purposes  of  taxation  in  B.C.  2  the  power  of 
the  holy  people  w7as  at  an  end  and  the  full  time  of 
prophecy  had  arrived.  It  wTas  then  that  Christ  was 
born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea.  "  The  Sceptre  shall 
not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between 
his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come;  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be." — Genesis  xlix.  10. 

45.  Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone  was 
cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it 
brake  in  pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  sil- 
ver, and  the  gold;  the  great  God  hath  made  known 
to  the  king  what  shall  come  to  pass  hereafter:  and 
the  dream  is  certain,  and  the  interpretation  thereof 
sure. 

46.  Then  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  fell  upon  his 
face,  and  worshipped  Daniel,  and  commanded  that 
they  should  offer  an  oblation  and  sweet  odours  unto 
him. 

47.  The  king  answered  unto  Daniel,  and  said,  Of 
a  truth  it  is,  that  your  God  is  a  God  of  gods,  and  a 
Lord  of  kings,  and  a  revealer  of  secrets,  seeing  thou 
couldest  reveal  this  secret. 


30  HISTORIC  SECTION 

48.  Then  the  king  made  Daniel  a  great  man,  and 
gave  him  many  great  gifts,  and  made  him  ruler  over 
the  whole  province  of  Babylon,  and  chief  of  the 
governors  over  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon. 

49.  Then  Daniel  requested  of  the  king,  and  he  set 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  over  the  affairs 
of  the  province  of  Babylon:  but  Daniel  sat  in  the 
gate  of  the  king. 


CHAPTER  III.     [Syriac] 

1.  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  made  an 
B.C.  593.  image  of  gold,  whose  height  was  three- 
score cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  six 
cubits:  he  set  it  up  in  the  plain  of  Dura,  in  the 
province  of  Babylon.  — The  dream  described  in 
the  previous  chapter,  seems  to  have  touched  the 
inventive  genius  of  king  Nebuchadnezzar  in  a 
way,  that  inspired  him  to  produce  a  mechanically 
perfect  image — a  casting  of  gold  of  priceless 
value — especially  strong  in  every  part,  and  one  in 
which  there  were  no  planes  of  weakness  whatever. 
An  image  that  seemed  to  bid  defiance  to  the 
course  of  events  foreshadowed  by  the  prophet 
Daniel. 

2.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  sent  to  gather 
together  the  princes,  the  governors,  and  the  cap- 
tains, the  judges,  the  treasurers,  the  counsellors,  the 
sheriffs,  and  all  the  rulers  of  the  provinces,  to  come 
to  the  dedication  of  the  image  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  king  had  set  up.  —  Doubtless  it  was  in  response 
to  this  invitation  that  Zedekiah  visited  "Babylon 
in  the  4th  year  of  his  reign."    Jer.  li.  59  to  64. 

3.  Then  the  princes,  the  governors,  and  captains, 
the  judges,  the  treasurers,  the  counsellors,  the  sher- 
iffs, and  all  the  rulers  of  the  provinces,  were  gathered 
together   unto   the   dedication   of   the   image   that 

(31) 


32  HISTORIC  SECTION 

Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  had  set  up;  and  they 
stood  before  the  image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
set  up. 

4.  Then  an  herald  cried  aloud,  To  you  it  is  com- 
manded, O  people,  nations,  and  languages, 

5.  That  at  what  time  ye  hear  the  sound  of  the 
cornet,  flute,  harp,  sackbut,  psaltery,  dulcimer,  and  all 
kinds  of  musick,  ye  fall  down  and  worship  the  golden 
image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  hath  set  up. 
—  A  monarch  so  wealthy  and  whose  sway  covered 
so  many  lands,  must  have  had  at  his  command 
musicians,  highly  skilled  in  the  use  of  a  great 
variety  of  musical  instruments,  gathered  both  from 
Europe  and  Asia. 

6.  And  whoso  falleth  not  down  and  worshippeth 
shall  the  same  hour  be  cast  into  the  midst  of  a  burn- 
ing fiery  furnace. 

7.  Therefore  at  that  time,  when  all  the  people 
heard  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  flute,  harp,  sackbut, 
psaltery,  and  all  kinds  of  musick,  all  the  people,  the 
nations,  and  the  languages,  fell  down,  and  wor- 
shipped the  golden  image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  the 
king  had  set  up. 

8.  Wherefore  at  that  time  certain  Chaldeans  came 
near,  and  accused  the  Jews. 

At  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  captivity  the  He- 
brews began  to  be  known  as  Jews,  or  inhabitants  of 
Judea. 

9.  They  spake  and  said  to  the  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, O  king,  live  for  ever. 


DANIEL  III  33 

10.  Thou,  O  king,  hast  made  a  decree,  that  every 
man  that  shall  hear  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  flute, 
harp,  sackbut,  psaltery,  and  dulcimer,  and  all  kinds 
of  musick,  shall  fall  down  and  worship  the  golden 
image: 

11.  And  whoso  falleth  not  down  and  worshippeth, 
that  he  should  be  cast  into  the  midst  of  a  burning 
fiery  furnace. 

12.  There  are  certain  Jews  whom  thou  hast  set 
over  the  affairs  of  the  province  of  Babylon,  Shad- 
rach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego;  these  men,  O  king, 
have  not  regarded  thee :  they  serve  not  thy  gods,  nor 
worship  the  golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up. 

13.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  in  his  rage  and  fury 
commanded  to  bring  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego.  Then  they  brought  these  men  before  the 
king. 

14.  Nebuchadnezzar  spake  and  said  unto  them, 
Is  it  true,  O  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego, 
do  not  ye  serve  my  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden 
image  which  I  have  set  up? 

15.  Now  if  ye  be  ready  that  at  what  time  ye  hear 
the  sound  of  the  cornet,  flute,  harp,  sackbut,  psal- 
tery, and  dulcimer,  and  all  kinds  of  musick,  ye  fall 
down  and  worship  the  image  which  I  have  made; 
well :  but  if  ye  worship  not,  ye  shall  be  cast  the  same 
hour  into  the  midst  of  a  burning  fiery  furnace;  and 
who  is  that  God  that  shall  deliver  you  out  of  my 
hands  ? 

16.  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  answered 


34  HISTORIC  SECTION 

and  said  to  the  king,  O  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  are  not 
careful  to  answer  thee  in  this  matter. 

17.  If  it  be  so,  our  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to 
deliver  us  from  the  burning  fiery  furnace,  and  he 
will  deliver  us  out  of  thine  hand,  O  king. 

18.  But  if  not,  be  it  known  unto  thee,  O  king,  that 
we  will  not  serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden 
image  which  thou  hast  set  up. 

19.  Then  was  Nebuchadnezzar  full  of  fury,  and 
the  form  of  his  visage  was  changed  against  Shadrach, 
Meshach,  and  Abed-nego:  therefore  he  spake,  and 
commanded  that  they  should  heat  the  furnace  one 
seven  times  more  than  it  was  wont  to  be  heated. 
— Or,  8  times  as  hot  as  the  usual  temperature. 
The  numeral  7  expressed  the  utmost  intensity 
known  to  the  king. 

20.  And  he  commanded  the  most  mighty  men 
that  were  in  his  army  to  bind  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
and  Abed-nego,  and  to  cast  them  into  the  burning 
fiery  furnace. 

21.  Then  these  men  were  bound  in  their  coats, 
their  hosen,  and  their  hats,  and  their  other  garments, 
and  were  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  burning  fiery 
furnace. 

22.  Therefore  because  the  king's  commandment 
was  urgent,  and  the  furnace  exceeding  hot,  the  flame 
of  the  fire  slew  those  men  that  took  up  Shadrach, 
Meshach,  and  Abed-nego.  —  This  seems  to  have 
been  what  is  technically  called  "  back-draught," 
which  those  who  are  skilled  in  feeding  furnaces  are 


DANIEL  III  35 

careful  to  guard  against,  but  which  a  soldier  knows 
nothing  about. 

23.  And  these  three  men,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
Abed-nego,  fell  down  bound  into  the  midst  of  the 
burning  fiery  furnace. 

24.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  was  astonied, 
and  rose  up  in  haste,  and  spake,  and  said  unto  his 
counsellors,  Did  not  we  cast  three  men  bound  into 
the  midst  of  the  fire  ?  They  answered  and  said  unto 
the  king,  True,  O  king. 

25.  He  answered  and  said,  Lo,  I  see  four  men 
loose,  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  they  have 
no  hurt;  and  the  form  of  the  fourth  is  like  the  Son  of 
God. 

26.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  came  near  to  the 
mouth  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace,  and  spake,  and 
said,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  ye  ser- 
vants of  the  most  high  God,  come  forth,  and  come 
hither.  Then  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego, 
came  forth  of  the  midst  of  the  fire. 

27.  And  the  princes,  governors,  and  captains,  and 
the  king's  counsellors,  being  gathered  together,  saw 
these  men,  upon  whose  bodies  the  fire  had  no  power, 
nor  was  an  hair  of  their  head  singed,  neither  were 
their  coats  changed,  nor  the  smell  of  fire  had  passed 
on  them. 

28.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  spake,  and  said,  Blessed 
be  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego, 
who  hath  sent  his  angel,  and  delivered  his  servants 
that  trusted  in  him,  and  have  changed  the  king's 


36  HISTORIC  SECTION 

word,  and  yielded  their  bodies,  that  they  might  not 
serve  nor  worship  any  god,  except  their  own  God. 

29.  Therefore  I  make  a  decree,  That  every  people, 
nation,  and  language,  which  speak  any  thing  amiss 
against  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego,  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  their  houses  shall  be 
made  a  dunghill :  because  there  is  no  other  God  that 
can  deliver  after  this  sort. 

30.  Then  the  king  promoted  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
and  Abed-nego,  in  the  province  of  Babylon. 


CHAPTER  IV.     [Syriac] 

1.  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king,  unto  all  people, 
nations,  and  languages,  that  dwell  in  all  the  earth; 
Peace  be  multiplied  unto  you. 

2.  I  thought  it  good  to  shew  the  signs  and  wonders 
that  the  high  God  hath  wrought  toward  me. 

3.  How  great  are  his  signs !  and  how  mighty  are 
his  wonders!  his  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  his  dominion  is  from  generation  to  generation. 

4.  I  Nebuchadnezzar  was  at  rest  in  mine  house, 
and  flourishing  in  my  palace: 

5.  I  saw  a  dream  which  made  me  afraid,  and  the 
thoughts  upon  my  bed  and  the  visions  of  my  head 
troubled  me. 

6.  Therefore  made  I  a  decree  to  bring  in  all  the  wise 
men  of  Babylon  before  me,  that  they  might  make 
known  unto  me  the  interpretation  of  the  dream. 

7.  Then  came  in  the  magicians,  the  astrologers, 
the  Chaldeans,  and  the  soothsayers:  and  I  told  the 
dream  before  them;  but  they  did  not  make  known 
unto  me  the  interpretation  thereof. 

8.  But  at  the  last  Daniel  came  in  before  me,  whose 
name  was  Belteshazzar,  according  to  the  name  of 
my  god,  and  in  whom  is  the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods : 
and  before  him  I  told  the  dream,  saying, 

9.  O  Belteshazzar,  master  of  the  magicians,  be- 
cause I  know  that  the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods  is  in 

(37) 


38  HISTORIC  SECTION 

thee,  and  no  secret  troubleth  thee,  tell  me  the  visions 
of  my  dream  that  I  have  seen,  and  the  interpretation 
thereof. 

10.  Thus  were  the  visions  of  mine  head  in  my  bed; 
I  saw,  and  behold  a  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  earth, 
and  the  height  thereof  was  great. 

1 1 .  The  tree  grew,  and  was  strong,  and  the  height 
thereof  reached  unto  heaven,  and  the  sight  thereof 
to  the  end  of  all  the  earth: 

12.  The  leaves  thereof  were  fair,  and  the  fruit 
thereof  much,  and  in  it  was  meat  for  all :  the  beasts 
of  the  field  had  shadow  under  it,  and  the  fowls  of  the 
heaven  dwelt  in  the  boughs  thereof,  and  all  flesh  was 
fed  of  it. 

13.  I  saw  in  the  visions  of  my  head  upon  my  bed, 
and,  behold,  a  watcher  and  an  holy  one  came  down 
from  heaven; 

14.  He  cried  aloud,  and  said  thus,  Hew  down  the 
tree,  and  cut  off  his  branches,  shake  off  his  leaves, 
and  scatter  his  fruit:  let  the  beasts  get  away  from 
under  it,  and  the  fowls  from  his  branches : 

15.  Nevertheless  leave  the  stump  of  his  roots  in 
the  earth,  even  with  a  band  of  iron  and  brass,  in  the 
tender  grass  of  the  field;  and  let  it  be  wet  with  the 
dew  of  heaven,  and  let  his  portion  be  with  the  beasts 
in  the  grass  of  the  earth: 

16.  Let  his  heart  be  changed  from  man's,  and  let  a 
beast's  heart  be  given  unto  him;  and  let  seven  times 
pass  over  him. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Nebuchadnezzar's  proba- 


DANIEL  IV  39 

tion  lasted  for  12  months,  see  verse  29,  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  his  dementia  lasted  for  7 
months,  or  until  the  moon  had  passed  over  him  7 
times,  a  period  long  enough  to  permit  a  rank  growth 
of  both  hair  and  nails  and  yet  short  enough  for  a 
regency  to  hold  his  kingdom  together  without  losing 
hope  of  his  final  recovery.  Besides  the  events  in 
the  years  of  his  reign  are  too  well  known  to  admit 
of  a  much  longer  season  of  affliction. 

17.  This  matter  is  by  the  decree  of  the  watchers, 
and  the  demand  by  the  word  of  the  holy  ones :  to  the 
intent  that  the  living  may  know  that  the  most  High 
ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whom- 
soever he  will,  and  setteth  up  over  it  the  basest  of  men. 

18.  This  dream  I  king  Nebuchadnezzar  have  seen. 
Now  thou,  O  Belteshazzar,  declare  the  interpreta- 
tion thereof,  forasmuch  as  all  the  wise  men  of  my 
kingdom  are  not  able  to  make  known  unto  me  the 
interpretation :  but  thou  art  able ;  for  the  spirit  of  the 
holy  gods  is  in  thee. 

19.  Then  Daniel,  whose  name  was  Belteshazzar, 
was  astonied  for  one  hour,  and  his  thoughts  troubled 
him.  The  king  spake,  and  said,  Belteshazzar,  let 
not  the  dream,  or  the  interpretation  thereof,  trouble 
thee.  Belteshazzar  answered  and  said,  My  lord, 
the  dream  be  to  them  that  hate  thee,  and  the  inter- 
pretation thereof  to  thine  enemies. 

20.  The  tree  that  thou  sawest,  which  grew,  and 
was  strong,  whose  height  reached  unto  the  heaven, 
and  the  sight  thereof  to  all  the  earth; 


40  HISTORIC  SECTION 

21.  Whose  leaves  were  fair,  and  the  fruit  thereof 
much,  and  in  it  teas  meat  for  all;  under  which  the 
beasts  of  the  field  dwelt,  and  upon  whose  branches 
the  fowls  of  the  heaven  had  their  habitation : 

22.  It  Tsthou,  O  king,  that  art  grown  and  become 
strong:  for  thy  greatness  is  grown,  and  reacheth 
unto  heaven,  and  thy  dominion  to  the  end  of  the 
earth. 

23.  And  whereas  the  king  saw  a  watcher  and  an 
holy  one  coming  down  from  heaven,  and  saying, 
Hew  the  tree  down,  and  destroy  it;  yet  leave  the 
stump  of  the  roots  thereof  in  the  earth,  even  with  a 
band  of  iron  and  brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the 
field;  and  let  it  be  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and 
let  his  portion  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  till  seven 
times  pass  over  him; 

24.  This  is  the  interpretation,  O  king,  and  this  is 
the  decree  of  the  most  High,  which  is  come  upon  my 
lord  the  king: 

25.  That  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy 
dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  they 
shall  make  thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and. they  shall 
wet  thee  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  seven  times 
shall  pass  over  thee,  till  thou  know  that  the  most 
High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to 
whomsoever  he  will. 

26.  And  whereas  they  commanded  to  leave  the 
stump  of  the  tree  roots;  thy  kingdom  shall  be  sure 
unto  thee,  after  that  thou  shalt  have  known  that  the 
heavens  do  rule. 


DANIEL  IV  41 

27.  Wherefore,  O  king,  let  my  counsel  be  accept- 
able unto  thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins  by  righteous- 
ness, and  thine  iniquities  by  shewing  mercies  to  the 
poor;  if  it  may  be  a  lengthening  of  thy  tranquillity. 

28.  All  this  came  upon  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar. 

29.  At  the  end  of  twelve  months  he  walked  in  the 
palace  of  the  kingdom  of  Babylon. 

30.  The  king  spake,  and  said,  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon,  that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  king- 
dom by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour 
of  my  majesty? 

31.  While  the  word  was  in  the  king's  mouth,  there 
fell  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  O  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, to  thee  it  is  spoken;  The  kingdom  is  departed 
from  thee. 

32.  And  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy 
dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field:  they 
shall  make  thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times 
shall  pass  over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  most 
High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to 
whomsoever  he  will. 

33.  The  same  hour  was  the  thing  fulfilled  upon 
Nebuchadnezzar:  and  he  was  driven  from  men,  and 
did  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  his  body  was  wet  with  the 
dew  of  heaven,  till  his  hairs  were  grown  like  eagles' 
feathers,  and  his  nails  like  birds'  claws. 

34.  And  at  the  end  of  the  days  I  Nebuchadnezzar 
lifted  up  mine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  mine  under- 
standing returned  unto  me  and  I  blessed  the  most 
High,  and  I  praised  and  honoured  him  that  liveth 


42  HISTORIC  SECTION 

for  ever,  whose  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
and  his  kingdom  is  from  generation  to  generation: 

35.  And  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed 
as  nothing :  and  he  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the 
army  of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth:  and  none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him, 
What  doest  thou? 

36.  At  the  same  time  my  reason  returned  unto  me; 
and  for  the  glory  of  my  kingdom,  mine  honour  and 
brightness  returned  unto  me;  and  my  counsellors 
and  my  lords  sought  unto  me;  and  I  was  established 
in  my  kingdom,  and  excellent  majesty  was  added 
unto  me. 

37.  Now  I  Nebuchadnezzar  praise  and  extol  and 
honour  the  King  of  heaven,  all  whose  works  are 
truth,  and  his  ways  judgment:  and  those  that  walk 
in  pride  he  is  able  to  abase. 


CHAPTER  V.    [Syriac] 

1.  Belshazzar  the  king  made  a  great 
B.C.  538.  feast  to  a  thousand  of  his  lords,  and  drank 
wine  before  the  thousand.  —  According  to 
the  Almagesta  of  Ptolemy,  Nabonadios  the  father 
of  Belshazzar  ruled  Babylon  for  17  years.  During 
the  last  3  years  of  his  reign  the  court  and  the 
army  were  under  the  control  of  his  son  who  became 
acting  king.  The  three  tablets  of  Belshazzar  fully 
establish  his  identity  and  the  annalistic  tablet  of 
Cyrus  throws  much  light  on  the  affairs  of  the  Chal- 
dean court  during  the  last  years  of  the  joint-reign. 
It  reads  like  a  nice  piece  of  detective  work. 

2.  Belshazzar,  whiles  he  tasted  the  wine,  com- 
manded to  bring  the  golden  and  silver  vessels  which 
his  father  Nebuchadnezzar  had  taken  out  of  the 
temple  which  was  in  Jerusalem;  that  the  king,  and 
his  princes,  his  wives,  and  his  concubines,  might 
drink  therein.  —  Belshazzar's  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  word  Father  is  used 
in  the  sense  of  grandfather,  exactly  as  in  n  Samuel 
19.  24.  Mephibosheth  is  spoken  of  as  the  son  of 
Saul,  when  in  fact  he  was  the  grandson  of  Saul. 

3.  Then  they  brought  the  golden  vessels  that  were 
taken  out  of  the  temple  of  the  house  of  God  which 
was  at  Jerusalem;  and  the  king,  and  his  princes,  his 
wives,  and  his  concubines,  drank  in  them. 

(43) 


44  HISTORIC  SECTION 

4.  They  drank  wine,  and  praised  the  gods  of  gold, 
and  of  silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of  stone. 

5.  In  the  same  hour  came  forth  fingers  of  a  man's 
hand,  and  wrote  over  against  the  candlestick  upon 
the  plaister  of  the  wall  of  the  king's  palace :  and  the 
king  saw  the  part  of  the  hand  that  wrote. 

6.  Then  the  king's  countenance  was  changed,  and 
his  thoughts  troubled  him,  so  that  the  joints  of  his 
loins  were  loosed,  and  his  knees  smote  one  against 
another. 

7.  The  king  cried  aloud  to  bring  in  the  astrologers, 
the  Chaldeans,  and  the  soothsayers.  And  the  king 
spake,  and  said  to  the  wise  men  of  Babylon,  Who- 
soever shall  read  this  writing,  and  shew  me  the 
interpretation  thereof,  shall  be  clothed  with  purple, 

—  r.  v.—  and    have    a    chain    of     gold    about   his 
neck,  and  shall  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 

—  First  Nabonadios,  second   Belshazzar,    his   son, 
and  third  the  Interpreter. 

8.  Then  came  in  all  the  king's  wise  men :  but  they 
could  not  read  the  writing,  nor  make  known  to  the 
king  the  interpretation  thereof. 

9.  Then  was  the  king  Belshazzar  greatly  troubled, 
and  his  countenance  was  changed  in  him,  and  his 
lords  were  astonied. 

10.  Now  the  queen  by  reason  of  the  words  of  the 
king  and  his  lords  came  into  the  banquet  house :  and 
the  queen  spake  and  said,  O  king,  live  for  ever:  let 
not  thy  thoughts  trouble  thee,  nor  let  thy  countenance 
be  changed. — This  queen  was  the  wife  of  Nabona- 


DANIEL  V  45 

dios  and  mother  of  Belshazzar.  Her  death  is  re- 
corded on  the  annalistic  tablet  of  Cyrus.  Her 
funeral  rites  were  conducted  by  Cambyses  in  the 
"  Temple  of  the  Sceptre  of  the  world,"  and  his  free 
will  offerings  aggregated  ''Ten  times  the  usual 
amount, "  a  most  appropriate  tribute  to  the  daugh- 
ter of  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  wonderful  warrior, 
engineer  and  man  of  letters. 

11.  There  is  a  man  in  thy  kingdom,  in  whom  is 
the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods;  and  in  the  days  of  thy 
father  light  and  understanding  and  wisdom,  like 
the  wisdom  of  the  gods,  was  found  in  him;  whom 
the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  thy  father,  the  king,  /  say, 
thy  father,  made  master  of  the  magicians,  astrolo- 
gers, Chaldeans,  and  soothsayers; 

12.  Forasmuch  as  an  excellent  spirit,  and  knowl- 
edge, and  understanding,  interpreting  of  dreams, 
and  shewing  of  hard  sentences,  and  dissolving  of 
doubts,  were  found  in  the  same  Daniel,  whom  the 
king  named  Belteshazzar:  now  let  Daniel  be  called, 
and  he  will  shew  the  interpretation. 

13.  Then  was  Daniel  brought  in  before  the  king. 
And  the  king  spake  and  said  unto  Daniel,  Art  thou 
that  Daniel,  which  art  of  the  children  of  the  cap- 
tivity of  Judah,  whom  the  king  my  father  brought 
out  of  Jewry? 

14.  I  have  even  heard  of  thee,  that  the  spirit  of  the 
gods  is  in  thee,  and  that  light  and  understanding 
and  excellent  wisdom  is  found  in  thee. 

15.  And  now  the  wise  men,  the  astrologers,  have 


46  HISTORIC  SECTION 

been  brought  in  before  me,  that  they  should  read 
this  writing,  and  make  known  unto  me  the  inter- 
pretation thereof:  but  they  could  not  shew  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  thing: 

16.  And  I  have  heard  of  thee,  that  thou  canst  make 
interpretations,  and  dissolve  doubts:  now  if  thou 
canst  read  the  writing,  and  make  known  to  me  the 
interpretation  thereof,  thou  shalt  be  clothed  with 
purple,  —  r.  v.—  and  have  a  chain  of  gold  about  thy 
neck,  and  shalt  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 

17.  Then  Daniel  answered  and  said  before  the 
king,  Let  thy  gifts  be  to  thyself,  and  give  thy  rewards 
to  another;  yet  I  will  read  the  writing  unto  the  king, 
and  make  known  to  him  the  interpretation. 

18.  O  thou  king,  the  most  high  God  gave  Nebu- 
chadnezzar thy  father  a  kingdom,  and  majesty,  and 
glory,  and  honour: 

19.  And  for  the  majesty  that  he  gave  him,  all  peo- 
ple, nations,  and  languages,  trembled  and  feared 
before  him:  whom  he  would  he  slew;  and  whom  he 
would  he  kept  alive;  and  whom  he  would  he  set  up; 
and  whom  he  would  he  put  down. 

20.  But  when  his  heart  was  lifted  up,  and  his 
mind  hardened  in  pride,  he  was  deposed  from  his 
kingly  throne,  and  they  took  his  glory  from  him: 

21.  And  he  was  driven  from  the  sons  of  men;  and 
his  heart  was  made  like  the  beasts,  and  his  dwelling 
was  with  the  wild  asses :  they  fed  him  with  grass  like 
oxen,  and  his  body  was  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven; 
till  he  knew  that  the  most  high  God  ruled  in  the 


DANIEL  V  47 

kingdom  of  men,   and  that  he  appointeth  over  it 
whomsoever  he  will. 

22.  And  thou  his  son,  O  Belshazzar,  hast  not  hum- 
bled thine  heart,  though  thou  knewest  all  this; 

23.  But  hast  lifted  up  thyself  against  the  Lord  of 
heaven;  and  they  have  brought  the  vessels  of  his 
house  before  thee,  and  thou,  and  thy  lords,  thy  wives, 
and  thy  concubines,  have  drunk  wine  in  them;  and 
thou  hast  praised  the  gods  of  silver,  and  gold,  of 
brass,  iron,  wood,  and  stone,  which  see  not,  nor 
hear,  nor  know:  and  the  God  in  whose  hand  thy 
breath  is,  and  whose  are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou 
not  glorified: 

24.  Then  was  the  part  of  the  hand  sent  from  him ; 
and  this  writing  was  written. 

25.  And  this  is  the  writing  that  was  written,  MENE, 
MENE,  TEKEL,  UPHARSIN. 

26.  This  is  the  interpretation  of  the  thing:  MENE; 
God  hath  numbered  thy  kingdom,  and  finished  it. 

27.  TEKEL;  Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances, 
and  art  found  wanting. 

28.  PERES;  Thy  kingdom  is  divided,  and  given 
to  the  Medes  and  Persians. 

29.  Then  commanded  Belshazzar,  and  they 
clothed  Daniel  with  purple,  —  r.  v. —  and  put  a 
chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  made  a 
proclamation  concerning  him,  that  he  should  be 
the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 

30.  In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the  king  of  the 
Chaldeans  slain. 


48  HISTORIC  SECTION 

31.  And  Darius  the  Median  took  the  king- 
dom, being  about  threescore  and  two  years  old. — 
After  Cyrus  entered  Babylon  and  pacified  its  in- 
habitants he  started  on  other  expeditions  and 
temporarily  placed  on  the  throne  his  uncle 
Cyaxares,  king  of  the  Medes,  who  was  known 
as  Darius  among  his  new  subjects,  a  name  less 
liable  to  be  confused  with  that  of  his  illustrious 
nephew.  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  expediency 
often  determines  the  choice  of  an  official  name  for 
the  sovereign.  Thus  the  present  king  of  England 
might  have  been  known  as  Albert  I,  instead  of 
Edward  vn.     For  full  explanation  see  Note  A. 


CHAPTER  VI.     [Syriac] 

1.  It  pleased  Darius  to  set  over  the  king- 

B.c.  538.  d°m    an    hundred    and    twenty    princes, 

which  should  be  over  the  whole  kingdom; 

2.  And  over  these  three  presidents;  of  whom 
Daniel  was  first :  that  the  princes  might  give  accounts 
unto  them,  and  the  king  should  have  no  damage. 

3.  Then  this  Daniel  was  preferred  above  the  presi- 
dents and  princes,  because  an  excellent  spirit  was  in 
him ;  and  the  king  thought  to  set  him  over  the  whole 
realm. 

4.  Then  the  presidents  and  princes  sought 
B.C.  537.  to  find  occasion  against  Daniel  concerning 
the  kingdom ;  but  they  could  find  none  occa- 
sion nor  fault;  forasmuch  as  he  was  faithful,  neither 
was  there  any  error  or  fault  found  in  him. 

5.  Then  said  these  men,  We  shall  not  find  any 
occasion  against  this  Daniel,  except  we  find  it  against 
him  concerning  the  law  of  his  God. 

6.  Then  these  presidents  and  princes  assembled 
together  to  the  king,  and  said  thus  unto  him,  King 
Darius,  live  for  ever. 

7.  All  the  presidents  of  the  kingdom,  the  governors, 
and  the  princes,  the  counsellors,  and  the  captains, 
have  consulted  together  to  establish  a  royal  statute, 
and  to  make  a  firm  decree,  that  whosoever  shall  ask 
a  petition  of  any  God  or  man  for  thirty  days,  save 

(49) 


50  HISTORIC  SECTION 

of  thee,  O  king,  he  shall  be  cast  into  the  den  of 
lions. 

8.  Now,  O  king,  establish  the  decree,  and  sign  the 
writing,  that  it  be  not  changed,  according  to  the  law 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  which  altereth  not. 

9.  Wherefore  king  Darius  signed  the  writing  and 
the  decree. 

10.  Now  when  Daniel  knew  that  the  writing  was 
signed,  he  went  into  his  house;  and  his  windows 
being  open  in  his  chamber  toward  Jerusalem,  he 
kneeled  upon  his  knees  three  times  a  day,  and 
prayed,  and  gave  thanks  before  his  God,  as  he  did 
aforetime. 

11.  Then  these  men  assembled,  and  found  Daniel 
praying  and  making  supplication  before  his  God. 

12.  Then  they  came  near,  and  spake  before  the 
king  concerning  the  king's  decree;  Hast  thou  not 
signed  a  decree,  that  every  man  that  shall  ask  a 
petition  of  any  God  or  man  within  thirty  days,  save 
of  thee,  O  king,  shall  be  cast  into  the  den  of  lions? 
The  king  answered  and  said,  The  thing  is  true, 
according  to  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians, 
which  altereth  not. 

13.  Then  answered  they  and  said  before  the  king, 
That  Daniel,  which  is  of  the  children  of  the  cap- 
tivity of  Judah,  regardeth  not  thee,  O  king,  nor  the 
decree  that  thou  hast  signed,  but  maketh  his  petition 
three  times  a  day. 

14.  Then  the  king,  when  he  heard  these  words,  was 
sore  displeased  with  himself,  and  set  his  heart  on 


DANIEL  VI  51 

Daniel  to  deliver  him :  and  he  laboured  till  the  going 
down  of  the  sun  to  deliver  him. 

15.  Then  these  men  assembled  unto  the  king,  and 
said  unto  the  king,  Know,  O  king,  that  the  law  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians  is,  That  no  decree  nor  statute 
which  the  king  establisheth  may  be  changed. 

16.  Then  the  king  commanded,  and  they  brought 
Daniel,  and  cast  him  into  the  den  of  lions.  Now 
the  king  spake  and  said  unto  Daniel,  Thy  God  whom 
thou  servest  continually,  he  will  deliver  thee. 

17.  And  a  stone  was  brought,  and  laid  upon  the 
mouth  of  the  den;  and  the  king  sealed  it  with  his 
own  signet,  and  with  the  signet  of  his  lords;  that  the 
purpose  might  not  be  changed  concerning  Daniel. 

18.  Then  the  king  went  to  his  palace,  and  passed 
the  night  fasting :  neither  were  instruments  of  musick 
brought  before  him:  and  his  sleep  went  from  him. 

19.  Then  the  king  arose  very  early  in  the  morning, 
and  went  in  haste  unto  the  den  of  lions. 

20.  And  when  he  came  to  the  den,  he  cried  with  a 
lamentable  voice  unto  Danel:  and  the  king  spake 
and  said  to  Daniel,  O  Daniel,  servant  of  the  living 
God,  is  thy  God,  whom  thou  servest  continually, 
able  to  deliver  thee  from  the  lions  ? 

21.  Then  said  Daniel  unto  the  king,  O  king,  live 
for  ever. 

22.  My  God  hath  sent  his  angel,  and  hath  shut  the 
lions'  mouths,  that  they  have  not  hurt  me:  foras- 
much as  before  him  innocency  was  found  in  me; 
and  also  before  thee,  O  king,  have  I  done  no  hurt. 


52  HISTORIC  SECTION 

23.  Then  was  the  king  exceeding  glad  for  him,  and 
commanded  that  they  should  take  Daniel  up  out  of 
the  den.  So  Daniel  was  taken  up  out  of  the  den,  and 
no  manner  of  hurt  was  found  upon  him,  because  he 
believed  in  his  God. —  Hebrews  XI.  32  33. 

24.  And  the  king  commanded,  and  they  brought 
those  men  which  had  accused  Daniel,  and  they  cast 
them  ino  the  den  of  lions,  them,  their  children,  and 
their  wives;  and  the  lions  had  the  mastery  of  them, 
and  brake  all  their  bones  in  pieces  or  ever  they  came 
at  the  bottom  of  the  den. 

25.  Then  king  Darius  wrote  unto  all  people, 
nations,  and  languages,  that  dwell  in  all  the  earth; 
Peace  be  multiplied  unto  you. 

26.  I  make  a  decree,  That  in  every  dominion  of 
my  kingdom  men  tremble  and  fear  before  the  God 
of  Daniel:  for  he  is  the  living  God,  and  stedfast  for 
ever,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  de- 
stroyed, and  his  dominion  shall  be  even  unto  the  end. 

27.  He  delivereth  and  rescueth,  and  he  worketh 
sicns  and  wonders  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  who  hath 

o 

delivered  Daniel  from  the  power  of  the  lions. 

28.  So  this  Daniel  prospered  in  the  reign  of  Darius, 
and  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus  the  Persian. 

Here  ends  the  historical  portion  of  the  book  of 
Daniel. 


PART  II. 

PROPHETIC  SECTION. 


CHAPTER  VII.     [Hebrew.] 

1.  In  the  first  year  of  Belshazzar  king 
B.C.  541.  of  Babylon  Daniel  had  a  dream  and  visions 
of  his  head  upon  his  bed :  then  he  wrote 
the  dream,  and  told  the  sum  of  the  matters. 

2.  Daniel  spake  and  said,  I  saw  in  my  vision  by 
night,  and,  behold,  the  four  winds  of  the  heaven 
strove  upon  the  great  sea.  —  The  known  world. — 

3.  And  four  great  beasts  came  up  from  the  sea, 
diverse  one  from  another. 

—  Symbolical  of  Four  powerful  dynasties. — 

4.  The  first  was  like  a  lion,  and  had 
B.C.  490.  eagle's  wings: — Medo-Persian  empire. 
I  beheld  till  the  wings  thereof  were  plucked, 
— Persia  defeated  by  Greece  at  Marathon. —  and 
it  was  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  and  made  stand 
upon  the  feet  as  a  man,  and  a  man's  heart  was 
given  unto  it.  —  Was  transformed  by  Greek  art 
and  civilization. 

5.  And  behold  another  beast,  a  second,  like  to  a 

bear,  —  The  Hellenes,  or  Greece  and  her  colonies 

in  their  palmy  days  —  and  it  raised  up  itself  on 

one  side,  —  faced  in  the  direction  of  Persia  —   and 

(53) 


54  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

it  had  three  ribs  in  the  mouth  of  it  between  the 
teeth  of  it:  —  3  columns  of  strength,  viz: — Athens, 
Sparta  and  Thebes.  The  vision  made  its  appear- 
ance 21  years  before  the  Alliance  was  formed.  The 
ribs  therefore,  had  not  knit  in  place  when  the 
heavenly  visitor  made  known  the  fact  of  their  future 
union.  The  alliance  lasted  93  years,  see  Thucydides 
hi.  69.  —  and  they  said  thus  unto  it,  Arise,  devour 
much  flesh  —  destroy  hundreds  of  thousands  in  your 
Persian  and  civil  wars. 

6.  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo  another,  like  a 
leopard,  —  The  Macedonian  Empire  —  which  had 
upon  the  back  of  it  four  wings  of  a  fowl;  the  beast 
had  also  four  heads;  and  dominion  was  given  to  it. 

Philip    king    of    Macedon    subjugated    the    dis- 
united  Greek  States   at  the   battle  of    Chaeronea 
in  B.C.  338,  and  Alexander  the  Great  conquered  a^ 
kingdom  extending  from  Greece  to  India  in  B.C.  336. 

7.  After  this  I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and  behold 
a  fourth  beast,  dreadful  and  terrible,  —  Roman 
Empire.  —  and  strong  exceedingly;  and  it  had  great 
iron  teeth:  it  devoured  and  brake  in  pieces,  and 
stamped  the  residue  with  the  feet  of  it:  and  it  was 
diverse  —  a  republic,  not  a  kingdom  —  from  all 
the  beasts  that  were  before  it;  and  it  had  10  horns, 
verse  24, —  the  rulers  following  the  Jugurthine  war. 

8.  I  considered  the  horns,  and,  behold,  there 
came  up  among  them  another  little  horn,  —  the 
family  of  the  Caesars  —  before  whom  there  were 
three  of  the  first  horns  plucked  up  by  the  roots :  and, 


DANIEL  VII  55 

behold,  in  this  horn  were  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man, 
and  a  mouth  speaking  great  things.  —  the  trium- 
virate ended  with  the  battle  of  Actium  Sept.  3rd, 
B.C.  31.  Divine  honors  were  accorded  to  Augustus. 
He  took  3  censuses  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  pos- 
sessed the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  its  resources, 
the  last  inventory  was  found  in  his  own  handwriting. 
Suetonius,  Aug.  xvi. Livy  cxxxii. 

9.  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and 
the  Ancient  of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white 
as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool : 
his  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as 
burning  fire. 

10.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from 
before  him:  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto 
him,  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood 
before  him:  the  judgment  was  set,  and  the  books 
were  opened.  —  Divine  forbearance  had  reached  its 
limit,  the  voice  of  the  prophets  went  unheeded,  and 
the  desolation  spoken  of  by  Moses  was  about  to  fall 
on  the  Jews. 

11.  I  beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great 
words  which  the  horn  spake:  I  beheld  even  till  the 
beast  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given 
to  the  burning  flame. 

12.  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts,  they  had 
their  dominion  taken  away:  yet  their  lives  were  pro- 
longed for  a  season  and  time. 

13.  I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and,  behold,  one 
like  the  Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven, 


56  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

—  "while  they  beheld,  he  was  taken  up;  and  a 
cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight,"  Acts  i.  9  — 
and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  they  brought 
him  near  before  him.  —  "I  see  the  heavens  opened, 
and  the  Son  of  man  standing  on  the  right  hand  of 
God.  "—Acts  vii.  55. 

14.  And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory, 
and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  lan- 
guages, should  serve  him:  his  dominion  is  an  ever- 
lasting dominion,  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and 
his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed. 

"For  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given; 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulders: 
and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor, 
the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and 
peace  there  shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne  of 
David,  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to  order  it,  and  to 
establish  it  with  judgment  and  with  justice  from 
henceforth  even  for  ever.  The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts  will  perform  this."  —  Isa.  ix.  6  and  7. 

15.  I  Daniel  was  grieved  in  my  spirit  in  the  midst 
of  my  body,  and  the  visions  of  my  head  troubled  me. 

16.  I  came  near  unto  one  of  them  that  stood  by, 
and  asked  him  the  truth  of  all  this.  So  he  told  me, 
and  made  me  know  the  interpretation  of  the  things. 

17.  These  great  beasts,  which  are  four,  are  four 
kings,  which  shall  arise  out  of  the  earth. 

18.  But  the  saints  of  the  most  High  shall  take  the 
kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom   for  ever,  even 


DANIEL  VII  57 

for    ever    and    ever.  —  The  Spiritual   kingdom    of 
the  Messiah. 

19.  Then  I  would  know  the  truth  of  the  fourth 
beast,  which  was  diverse  from  all  the  others,  exceed- 
ing dreadful,  whose  teeth  were  of  iron,  and  his  nails 
of  brass;  which  devoured,  brake  in  pieces,  and 
stamped  the  residue  with  his  feet; 

20.  And  of  the  ten  horns  that  were  in  his  head,  and 
of  the  other  which  came  up,  and  before  whom  three 
fell;  even  of  that  horn  that  had  eyes,  and  a  mouth 
that  spake  very  great  things,  whose  look  was  more 
stout  than  his  fellows. 

21.  I  beheld,  and  the  same  horn  made  war  with 
the  saints,  and  prevailed  against  them; — Nero  the 
descendant  of  Augustus  began  the  first  persecution 
in  a.d.  65. 

22.  Until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judgment 
was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  most  High;  and  the 
time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  kingdom. 

23.  Thus  he  said,  The  fourth  beast  shall  be  the 
fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be  diverse 
from  all  kingdoms,  and  shall  devour  the  whole  earth, 
and  shall  tread  it  down,  and  break  it  in  pieces. 

24.  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom  are  ten 
kings  that  shall  arise:  and  another  shall  rise  after 
them;  and  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the  first,  and  he 
shall  subdue  three  kings. 

25.  And  he —  in  the  person  of  his  descendants  — 
shall  speak  great  words  against  the  most  High,  and 
shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  most  High,  and 


58  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

think  to  change  times  and  laws:  and  they  shall  be 
given  unto  his  hand  until  a  time  and  times  and  the 
dividing  of  time.  —  This  formula  summarizes  that 
which  has  gone  before.  It  starts  with  the  Medo- 
Persian  kingdom  of  Cyrus,  established  in  the  year 
B.C.  558,  as  typified  by  the  lion  in  verse  four,  and 
reaches  over  to  the  year  a.d.  39  when  the  Gentiles 
were  admitted  to  Messiah's  kingdom  as  promised 
in  verse  18.    For  full  explanation  see  Note  B. 

26.  But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall 
take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy 
it  unto  the  end. 

27.  And  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  most  High, 
whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all 
dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him. 

28.  Hitherto  is  the  end  of  the  matter.  As  for  me 
Daniel,  my  cogitations  much  troubled  me,  and  my 
countenance  changed  in  me:  but  I  kept  the  matter 
in  my  heart. 


CHAPTER  VIII.     [Hebrew.] 

1.  In  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  king 
B.C.  539-8.  Belshazzar  a  vision  appeared  unto  me, 
even  unto  me  Daniel,  after  that  which 
appeared  unto  me  at  the  first. 

2.  And  I  saw  in  a  vision;  and  it  came  to  pass, 
when  I  saw,  that  I  was  at  Shushan  in  the  palace, 
which  is  in  the  province  of  Elam;  and  I  saw  in  a 
vision,  and  I  was  by  the  river  of  Ulai. 

3.  Then  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and, 
behold,  there  stood  before  the  river  a  ram  which 
had  two  horns:  and  the  two  horns  were  high;  —  the 
Medo-Persian  Empire  —  but  one  —  Persia  —  was 
higher  than  the  other,  and  the  higher  came  up 
last. 

4.  I  saw  the  ram  pushing  westward,  and  north- 
ward, and  southward;  —  The  Medo-Persian  Empire 
embraced  all  the  civilized  nations  of  Asia  —  so  that 
no  beast  might  stand  before  him,  neither  was  there 
any  that  could  deliver  out  of  his  hand;  but  he  — 
Cyrus,  and  his  descendants  and  next  of  kin  —  did 
according  to  his  will,  and  became  great. 

5.  And  as  I  was  considering,  behold  a  he-goat 
—  The  Hellenes  (Greece  and  her  colonies)  —  came 
from  the  West  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
touched  not  the  ground;  and  the  goat  had  a  notable 
horn  between  his  eyes. 

(59) 


60  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

6.  And  he  came  to  the  ram  that  had  two  horns, 
which  I  had  seen  standing  before  the  river  and  ran 
unto  him  in  the  fury  of  his  power  —  Battles  of  Mara- 
thon B.C.  490,  Salamis  and  Plataea  B.C.  480  and  479. 

7.  And  I  saw  him  —  Alexander  the  Great,  after 
Greece  was  conquered  by  the  Macedonians  B.C. 
334  —  come  close  unto  the  ram  —  Battles  of  Grani- 
cus  and  Issus.  —  and  he  was  moved  with  choler 
against  him,  and  smote  the  ram,  and  brake  his  two 
horns,  and  there  was  no  power  in  the  ram  to  stand 
before  him;  —  Alexander  was  greatly  pleased  when 
shown  this  prophecy  —  Joseph  us  11.  8.  5.  —  but 
he  cast  him  down  to  the  ground  and  stamped  upon 
him,  and  there  was  none  that  could  deliver  the  ram 
out  of  his  hand.  —  B.C.  331  Alexander  defeated  the 
Persians  on  the  plain  of  Babylon.  He  then  pushed 
on  to  India  and  conquered  the  Punjaub,  land  of  the 
five  rivers. 

8.  Therefore  the  he-goat  waxed  very  great:  — 
Alexander  the  Great  also  conquered  Egypt,  Pales- 
tine, Phoenicia  and  Tyre.  He  built  Alexandria  and 
ruled  from  Greece  to  the  Ganges.  —  and  when  he 
was  strong,  the  great  horn  was  broken;  —  Alexander 
died  in  India  of  intemperance  and  left  no  successor. 
—  and  for  it  came  up  four  notable  ones  toward  the 
4  winds  of  heaven.  —  Alexander's  kingdom  fell  to 
his  4  generals: 

i  Antigonus  took  Persia, 

Seleucus  took  Syria, 

Ptolemy  took  Egypt, 
!  Cassander  took  Macedon. 


DANIEL  VIII  61 

9.  And  out  of  one  of  them  —  Seleucus  —  came 
forth  a  little  horn  —  kingdom  of  the  Seleucidae  — 
which  waxed  exceeding  great,  toward  the  south  — 
Egypt  —  and  toward  the  east  —  between  the  Helles- 
pont and  the  Indus  —  and  toward  the  pleasant 
land.  —  Palestine. 

10.  And  it  waxed  great  —  under  Antiochus  ni, 
the  Great  —  even  to  the  host  of  heaven;  —  the  Jew- 
ish nation  —  and  it  cast  down  some  of  the  host  and 
of  the  stars  to  the  ground,  —  Judah  and  Benjamin — 
and  stamped  upon  them. 

11.  Yea  it  —  under  king  Antiochus  Epiphanes  — 
magnified  itself,  even  to  the  Prince  of  the  host ;  — 
Judah,  and  the  capital  city  Jerusalem  —  and  it  took 
away  from  him  the  continual  burnt  offering,  and 
the  place  of  his  Sanctuary  was  cast  down.  —  R.V. 

12.  And  the  host  was  given  over  to  it  together 
with  the  continual  burnt  offering  through  transgres- 
sion ;  —  Antiochus  also  set  up  heathen  altars  in 
every  village  and  town,  on  which  the  Jews  were 
obliged  to  sacrifice  swine's  flesh  daily  —  and  it  cast 
down  the  truth  to  the  ground,  and  it  did  its  pleasure 
and  prospered. — R.V. 

13.  Then  I  heard  one  saint  speaking  and  another 
saint  said  unto  that  certain  saint  which  spake: — 

"How  long  shall  be  the  vision  concerning  the 
daily  sacrifice  and  the  transgression  of  desola- 
tion, to  give  both  the  Sanctuary  and  the  host  — 
the  National  government  —  to  be  trodden  under 
foot?" 


62  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

14.  And  he  said  unto  me,  Unto  two  thousand  and 
three  hundred  days;  then  shall  the  sanctuary  be 
cleansed. —  The  period  amounted  to  308  yrs.  6  mos. 
21  days  and  extended  from  Oct.  14th  B.C.  450  to  May 
4th  B.C.  141,  at  which  time  the  temple  was  cleansed 
by  Simon  Maccabeus.  For  a  full  explanation  see 
Notes  C.  and  D. 

15.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I,  even  I  Daniel, 
had  seen  the  vision,  and  sought  for  the  meaning, 
then,  behold,  there  stood  before  me  as  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man. 

16.  And  I  heard  a  man's  voice  between  the  banks 
of  Ulai,  which  called,  and  said,  Gabriel,  make  this 
man  to  understand  the  vision. 

17.  So  he  came  near  where  I  stood:  and  when  he 
came,  I  was  afraid,  and  fell  upon  my  face:  but  he 
said  unto  me,  Understand,  O  son  of  man:  for  at  the 
time  of  the  end  shall  be  the  vision. 

18.  Now  as  he  was  speaking  with  me,  I  was  in  a 
deep  sleep  on  my  face  toward  the  ground:  but  he 
touched  me,  and  set  me  upright. 

19.  And  he  said,  Behold,  I  will  make  thee  know 
what  shall  be  in  the  last  end  of  the  indignation:  for 
at  the  time  appointed  the  end  shall  be. 

20.  The  ram  which  thou  sawest  having  two  horns 
are  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia. 

21.  And  the  rough  goat  is  the  king  of  Grecia:  and 
the  great  horn  that  is  between  his  eyes  is  the  first 
king.  —  Alexander  the  Great  who  united  Greece 
and  Macedon  (verse  8). 


DANIEL  VIII  63 

22.  Now  that  being  broken,  whereas  four  stood 
up  for  it,  four  kingdoms  shall  stand  up  out  of  the 
nation,  but  not  in  his  power. 

23.  And  in  the  latter  time  of  their  kingdom,  when 
the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full,  —  the  Jewish 
people  —  a  king  of  fierce  countenance,  and  under- 
standing dark  sentences  shall  stand  up.  —  Antio- 
chus  in,  the  Great,  who  subjected  Judea  and  greatly 
oppressed  the  Jewish  people.  His  times  were  noted 
for  corruption  and  crime. 

24.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty,  but  not  by  his 
own  power:  and  he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  and 
shall  prosper,  and  practise,  and  shall  destroy  the 
mighty  and  the  holy  people. 

25.  And  through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause 
craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand;  and  he  shall  magnify 
himself  in  his  heart,  and  by  peace  shall  destroy 
many:  he  shall  also  stand  up  against  the  Prince  of 
princes ;  —  the  Roman  Empire  had  no  kings  and 
therefore  its  rulers  were  spoken  of  as  Princes.  It 
was  a  favorite  term  for  a  king  to  designate  himself 
as  "King  of  Kings."  The  same  thought  could  be 
expressed  as  regards  the  Romans,  by  the  words 
"Prince  of  Princes"  —  but  he  shall  be  broken 
without  hand.  —  Antiochus  died  from  intemper- 
ance. 

26.  And  the  vision  of  the  evening  and  the  morn- 
ing which  was  told  is  true:  wherefore  shut  thou  up 
the  vision ;  for  it  shall  be  for  many  days. 


64  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

27.  And  I  Daniel  fainted,  and  was  sick  certain 
days;  afterward  I  rose  up,  and  did  the  king's  busi- 
ness; and  I  was  astonished  at  the  vision,  but  none 
understood  it. 


CHAPTER  IX.    [Hebrew.] 

1.  In  the  first  year  of  Darius  the  son  of 
B.C.  538-7.  Ahasuerus,  of  the  seed  of    the  Medes, 
which  was  made  king  over  the  realm  of 
the  Chaldeans; — by  Cyrus. 

2.  In  the  first  year  of  his  reign  I  Daniel  under- 
stood by  books  the  number  of  the  years,  whereof 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jeremiah  the  prophet, 
that  he  would  accomplish  seventy  years  in  the  deso- 
lations of  Jerusalem "For  thus  saith  the  Lord, 

that  after  70  years  be  accomplished  at  Babylon  I 
will  visit  you,  and  perform  my  good  word  toward 
you,  in  causing  you  to  return  to  this  place."  Jere- 
miah xxix.  10. 

3.  And  I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek 
by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fasting,  and  sack- 
cloth, and  ashes: 

4.  And  I  prayed  unto  the  Lord  my  God,  and 
made  my  confession,  and  said,  O  Lord,  the  great 
and  dreadful  God,  keeping  the  covenant  and  mercy 
to  them  that  love  him,  and  to  them  that  keep  his 
commandments ; 

5.  We  have  sinned,  and  have  committed  iniquity, 
and  have  done  wickedly,  and  have  rebelled,  even  by 
departing  from  thy  precepts  and  from  thy  judgments: 

6.  Neither  have  we  hearkened  unto  thy  servants 
the  prophets,  which  spake  in  thy  name  to  our  kings, 

(65) 


66  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

our  princes,  and  our  fathers,  and  to  all  the  people 
of  the  land. 

7.  O  Lord,  righteousness  belongeth  unto  thee,  but 
unto  us  confusion  of  faces,  as  at  this  day;  to  the  men 
of  Judah,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and 
unto  all  Israel,  that  are  near,  and  that  are  far  off, 
through  all  the  countries  whither  thou  hast  driven 
them,  because  of  their  trespass  that  they  have  tres- 
passed against  thee. 

8.  O  Lord,  to  us  belongeth  confusion  of  face,  to 
our  kings,  to  our  princes,  and  to  our  fathers,  because 
we  have  sinned  against  thee. 

9.  To  the  Lord  our  God  belong  mercies  and 
forgivenesses,  though  we  have  rebelled  against 
him; 

10.  Neither  have  we  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
our  God,  to  walk  in  his  laws,  which  he  set  before  us 
by  his  servants  the  prophets.     • 

11.  Yea,  all  Israel  have  trangressed  thy  law,  even 
by  departing,  that  they  might  not  obey  thy  voice; 
therefore  the  curse  is  poured  upon  us,  and  the  oath 
that  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses  the  servant  of 
God,  because  we  have  sinned  against  him. 

12.  And  he  hath  confirmed  his  words,  which  he 
spake  against  us,  and  against  our  judges  that  judged 
us,  by  bringing  upon  us  a  great  evil:  for  under  the 
whole  heaven  hath  not  been  done  as  hath  been  done 
upon  Jerusalem. 

13.  As  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  all  this 
evil  is  come  upon  us:  yet  made  we  not  our  prayer 


DANIEL  IX  67 

before  the  Lord  our  God,  that  we  might  turn  from 
our  iniquities,  and  understand  thy  truth. 

14.  Therefore  hath  the  Lord  watched  upon  the 
evil,  and  brought  it  upon  us :  for  the  Lord  our  God 
is  righteous  in  all  his  works  which  he  doeth:  for  we 
obeyed  not  his  voice. 

15.  And  now,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  hast 
brought  thy  people  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
with  a  mighty  hand,  and  hast  gotten  thee  renown, 
as  at  this  day;  we  have  sinned,  we  have  done 
wickedly. 

16.  O  Lord,  according  to  all  thy  righteousness,  I 
beseech  thee,  let  thine  anger  and  thy  fury  be  turned 
away  from  thy  city  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  mountain: 
because  of  our  sins,  and  for  the  iniquities  of  our 
fathers,  Jerusalem  and  thy  people  are  become  a 
reproach  to  all  that  are  about  us. 

17.  Now  therefore,  O  our  God,  hear  the  prayer 
of  thy  servant,  and  his  supplications,  and  cause  thy 
face  to  shine  upon  thy  sanctuary  that  is  desolate, 
for  the  Lord's  sake. 

18.  O  my  God,  incline  thine  ear,  and  hear;  open 
thine  eyes,  and  behold  our  desolations,  and  the  city 
which  is  called  by  thy  name:  for  we  do  not  present 
our  supplications  before  thee  for  our  righteous- 
nesses, but  for  thy  great  mercies. 

19.  O  Lord,  hear;  O  Lord,  forgive;  O  Lord, 
hearken  and  do;  defer  not,  for  thine  own  sake,  O 
my  God:  for  thy  city  and  thy  people  are  called  by 
thy  name. 


68  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

20.  And  whiles  I  was  speaking,  and  praying,  and 
confessing  my  sin  and  the  sin  of  my  people  Israel, 
and  presenting  my  supplication  before  the  Lord 
my  God  for  the  holy  mountain  of  my  God; 

21.  Yea,  whiles  I  was  speaking  in  prayer,  even 
the  man  Gabriel,  whom  I  had  seen  in  the  vision  at 
the  beginning,  —  Daniel  viii.  16.  —  being  caused 
to  fly  swiftly,  touched  me  about  the  time  of  the  even- 
ing oblation. 

22.  And  he  informed  me,  and  talked  with  me,  and 
said,  O  Daniel,  I  am  now  come  forth  to  give  thee 
skill  and  understanding. 

23.  At  the  beginning  of  thy  supplications  the  com- 
mandment came  forth,  and  I  am  come  to  shew  thee; 
for  thou  art  greatly  beloved:  therefore  understand 
the  matter,  and  consider  the  vision. 

The  next  four  verses  should  be  read  as  a  whole. 
The  burden  of  their  message  is  the  date  of  Messiah's 
sacrifice,  the  time  when  he  would  "be  cut  off,  but 
not  for  himself/'  An  event  of  supreme  moment  to 
the  entire  human  race.  In  making  this  revelation 
the  heavenly  visitor  took  the  Sabbatic  period  of  7 
years  as  his  standard  of  time.  The  Greeks  had  a 
system  of  Olympiads,  each  4  years  in  length.  In 
our  day  the  standard  measure  is  one  year.  We  must 
therefore  lay  aside  our  ordinary  line  of  thought  and 
in  reading  the  next  4  verses  we  must  accustom  our- 
selves to  thinking  in  periods  of  7  years  each  and 
remember  that  whenever  an  event  took  place  it 
happened  in  some  period  7  years  in  length.    So  that 


DANIEL  IX  69 

when  the  angel  spoke  of  "the  going  forth  of  the 
commandment"  he  pointed  to  a  Sabbatic  period 
of  7  years,  not  to  a  certain  day,  hour,  or  minute  of 
a  given  year,  but  to  a  group  of  7  years  as  a  whole, 
in  a  word  to  a  certain  "week,"  when  therefore,  he 
spoke  of  more  "weeks"  to  follow  the  additional 
ones  came  in  regular  succession  and  the  sum  of  the 
series  must  of  necessity  equal  the  full  time  revealed. 
The  starting  point  was  plainly  the  river  Ahava  and 
the  time  of  their  Exodus  from  Persia  was  just  2 
days  prior  to  the  Passover  of  B.C.  458 — see  Note 
E.  The  first  "week"  therefore  ended  in  b.c.  451, 
the  second  "week"  in  B.C.  444,  the  third  in  437 
and  so  on,  until  the  end  of  the  eighth  week  in  B.C. 
402.  Up  to  that  time  the  Jews  were  favored  by  the 
Persian  government,  but  Persia  lost  her  power  and 
influence  at  the  battle  of  Cunaxa  in  B.C.  401.  Then 
followed  62  Sabbatic  periods,  or  434  years,  ending 
with  the  Passover  of  a.d.  33  at  which  time  Messiah 
was  cut  off.  The  three  periods,  1  week  plus  7 
weeks  plus  62  weeks  make  a  total  of  "70  weeks" 
and  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  heavenly  prediction. 

24.  Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon  thy  peo- 
ple and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  transgres- 
sion, and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlast- 
ing righteousness,  and  to  seal  up  the  vision  and 
prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  most  Holy. 

25.  Know  therefore  and  understand,  that  from  the 
—  week  of  the  —  going  forth  of  the  commandment 


70  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

—  of  Artaxerxes  —  to  restore  and  to  build  Jeru- 
salem unto  Messiah  the  Prince  shall  be  7  weeks,  and 
threescore  and  two  weeks:  the  street  shall  be  built  b  l 
again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troblous  times.  —  How 
troublous  is  told  by  Nehemiah  where  he  says:  "we 
returned  all  of  us  to  the  wall,  every  one  unto  his  work. 
And  it  came  to  pass  from  that  time  forth,  the  half 
of  my  servants  wrought  in  the  work  and  the  other 
half  of  them  held  both  the  spears,  the  shields,  and 
the  bows  and  the  coats  of  mail." 

26.  And   after   threescore   and   two   weeks   shall     & 
Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself:  and  the  peo- 
ple of  the  prince  that  shall  come  —  the  Romans 
under  Petronius  in  a.d.  40  and  under  Titus  in  a.d. 

66  —  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary;  and 
the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the 
end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined.  — 
or,  "it  shall  be  cut  off  by  desolations.,,  Josephus 
says  that  1,100,000  perished  in  the  siege  and  97,000 
were  carried  away  captive. 

27.  And  he  shall  confirm  the  covenant  with  many 
for  one  week:  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall 
cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,  —  This 
"one  week"  was  divided  into  2  parts  of  3|  years 
each.  The  first  half  covered  the  Ministry  of  the 
Messiah  and  therefore  was  embraced  within  the 
70  weeks.  The  last  half  extended  beyond  the  70 
weeks  and  ended  in  a.d.  36.  It  was  a  period  of 
remarkable  growth  in  the  infant  church;  Pilate 
however  ceased  to  be  procurator  in  a.d.  36  and  the 


DANIEL  IX  71 

persecution  described  in  the  vmth  chapter  of  Acts 
immediately  set  in.  —  and  for  the  overspreading  of 
abomination  he  shall  make  it  desolate,  —  or,  "upon 
the  battlements  shall  be  the  idols  of  the  desolator." 
see  also  Matt.  xxiv.  15.  —  even  until  the  consum- 
mation, and  that  determined  shall  be  poured  upon 
the  desolate.  —  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Romans 
on  the  2nd  of  Sept.  a.d.  70.  Then  the  prophecy  of 
Ezekiel  was  fulfilled: —  "I  will  scatter  thee  among 
the  heathen  and  disperse  thee  in  the  countries." 

Remarks.  To  understand  what  follows,  all  divi- 
sions of  chapter  and  verse  should  be  obliterated, 
from  this  point  to  the  end  of  the  book.  The  sub- 
ject matter  should  be  taken  as  descriptive  of  what 
Daniel  saw  and  heard  "by  the  side  of  the  great 
river,  which  is  Hiddekel"  "in  the  third  year  of 
Cyrus,  king  of  Persia."  The  description  reminds  us 
forcibly  of  the  experiences  of  the  apostle  John  and 
the  apostle  Paul.  The  vision  had  a  twofold  object: 
first,  to  reveal  "what  shall  befall  thy  people  in  the 
latter  days,"  and  second,  to  give  additional  informa- 
tion concerning  Messiah's  kingdom  said  to  be  distant 
"many  days."  The  entire  eleventh  chapter  from 
verse  2  to  the  end  is  devoted  to  the  days  following 
Nehemiah's  rule.  In  the  first  four  verses  of  Chapter 
xii.  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  coming  kingdom, 
also  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  while  verses  5  to 
13  set  forth  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

More  than  200  years  prior  to  Daniel's  day,  the 
prophet  Joel  had  pointed  to  the  same  great  event 


72  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

when  he  said : — "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  after- 
ward, that  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh; 
and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy, 
your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your  young  men 
shall  see  visions;  And  also  upon  the  servants  and 
upon  the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out 
my  Spirit."     Joel  n.  28,  also  Acts  n.  17. 


CHAPTER  X.     [Hebrew.] 

1.  In  the  third  year  —  third  since  the 
B.C.  536-5.  conquest  of  Babylon,  but  first  in  the 
personal  reign  over  Babylon  —  of  Cyrus 
king  of  Persia  a  thing  was  revealed  unto  Daniel, 
whose  name  was  Belteshazzar;  and  the  thing  was 
true,  but  the  time  appointed  was  long:  and  he  under- 
stood the  thing,  and  had  understanding  of  the 
vision. 

2.  In  those  days  I  Daniel  was  mourning  three 
full  weeks. 

3.  I  ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither  came  flesh  nor 
wine  in  my  mouth,  neither  did  I  anoint  myself  at  all, 
till  three  whole  weeks  were  fulfilled. 

4.  And  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  first 
month,  as  I  was  by  the  side  of  the  great  river,  which 
is  Hiddekel ;  —  Tigris  is  the  modern  name  for  the 
river  Hiddekel.  The  period  of  Daniel's  mourning 
began  on  Saturday,  March  31st,  B.C.  536,  and  con- 
tinued 3  weeks  until  Saturday,  April  21st.  Meantime 
the  Passover  occurred  on  Thursday,  April  12th. 

5.  Then  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  looked,  and 
behold  a  certain  man  clothed  in  linen,  whose  loins 
were  girded  with  fine  gold  of  Uphaz :  —  Ophir  — 

6.  His  body  also  was  like  the  beryl,  and  his  face 
as  the  appearance  of  lightning,  and  his  eyes  as  lamps 
of  fire,  and  his  arms  and  his  feet  like  in  colour  to 

(73) 


74  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

polished  brass,  and  the  voice  of  his  words  like  the 
voice  of  a  multitude.  —  "One  like  unto  the  Son  of 
man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and 
girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle.  His  head 
and  his  hairs  were  white  like  wool,  as  white  as 
snow;  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire;  and  his 
feet  like  unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  fur- 
nace; and  his  voice  as  the  sound  of  many  waters/' 
Rev.  I.  13,  14,  15. 

7.  And  I  Daniel  alone  saw  the  vision :  for  the  men 
that  were  with  me  saw  not  the  vision;  but  a  great 
quaking  fell  upon  them,  so  that  they  fled  to  hide 
themselves.  —  "And  they  that  were  with  me  saw  in- 
deed the  light,  and  were  afraid;  but  they  heard  not 
the  voice  of  Him  that  spake  to  me."  Acts  xxn.  9 
also  ix.  7. 

8.  Therefore  I  was  left  alone,  and  saw  this  great 
vision,  and  there  remained  no  strength  in  me:  for 
my  comeliness  was  turned  in  me  into  corruption, 
and  I  retained  no  strength. 

9.  Yet  heard  I  the  voice  of  his  words :  and  when 
I  heard  the  voice  of  his  words,  then  was  I  in  a  deep 
sleep  on  my  face,  and  my  face  toward  the  ground. 

Daniel  was  completely  overcome  by  the  glory  of 
this  Divine  manifestation. 

10.  And,  behold,  an  hand  touched  me,  which  set 
me  upon  my  knees  and  upon  the  palms  of  my 
hands. 

The  angel  Gabriel  now  appears  on  the  scene,  and 
again  assures  Daniel  that  he  is  greatly  beloved  and 


DANIEL  X  75 

continues  the  kindly  offices  spoken  of  in  Daniel  VIII. 
16.— ix.  21,  22. 

11.  And  he  said  unto  me,  O  Daniel,  a  man  greatly 
beloved,  understand  the  words  that  I  speak  unto 
thee,  and  stand  upright:  for  unto  thee  am  I  now  sent. 
And  when  he  had  spoken  this  word  unto  me,  I  stood 
trembling. — John  was  the  beloved  apostle,  John 
xiii.  23  and  Daniel  the  beloved  prophet,  Dan.  ix.  23. 

12.  Then  said  he  unto  me,  Fear  not,  Daniel:  for 
from  the  first  day  that  thou  didst  set  thine  heart  to 
understand,  and  to  chasten  thyself  before  thy  God, 
thy  words  were  heard,  and  I  am  come  for  thy  words. 

13.  But  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  with- 
stood me  one  and  twenty  days :  but,  lo,  Michael,  one 
of  the  chief  princes,  came  to  help  me;  and  I  remained 
there  with  the  kings  of  Persia.  —  "Now  in  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  that  the  word  of  the 
Lord  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  might  be 
accomplished,  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Cyrus 
king  of  Persia,  that  he  made  a  proclamation." 
ii  Chron.  xxxvi.  22. 

14.  Now  I  am  come  to  make  thee  understand 
what  shall  befal  thy  people  in  the  latter  days:  for 
yet  the  vision  is  for  many  days. 

15.  And  when  he  had  spoken  such  words  unto  me, 
I  set  my  face  toward  the  ground,  and  I  became 
dumb. 

16.  And,  behold,  one  like  the  similitude  of  the  sons 
of  men  touched  my  lips:  then  1  opened  my  mouth, 
and  spake,  and  said  unto  him  that  stood  before  me, 


76  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

O  my  lord,  by  the  vision  my  sorrows  are  turned 
upon  me,  and  I  have  retained  no  strength. 

17.  For  how  can  the  servant  of  this  my  lord  talk 
with  this  my  lord  ?  for  as  for  me,  straightway  there 
remained  no  strength  in  me,  neither  is  there  breath 
left  in  me. 

18.  Then  there  came  again  and  touched  me  one 
like  the  appearance  of  a  man,  and  he  strengthened 
me, 

19.  And  said,  O  man  greatly  beloved,  fear  not: 
peace  be  unto  thee,  be  strong,  yea,  be  strong.  And 
when  he  had  spoken  unto  me,  I  was  strengthened, 
and  said,  Let  my  lord  speak;  for  thou  hast  strength- 
ened me. 

20.  Then  said  he,  Knowest  thou  wherefore  I  come 
unto  thee?  and  now  will  I  return  to  fight  with  the 
prince  of  Persia :  and  when  I  am  gone  forth,  lo,  the 
prince  of  Grecia  shall  come.  —  Dan.  vm.  21. 

21.  But  I  will  shew  thee  that  which  is  noted  in  the 
scripture  of  truth: — the  Book  of  future  events  — 
and  there  is  none  that  holdeth  with  me  in  these 
things,  but  Michael  your  prince.  —  "  Michael  the 
archangel."  See  Jude  9th  verse. — "  The  captain  of 
the  Lord's  host."  See  Joshua  v.  15.— "  Michael 
and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon  and  his 
angels."     Rev.  xn.  7. 

The  next  chapter  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
period  covered  by  the  2300  days.  For  a  full  explana- 
tion see  Note  D. 


CHAPTER  XI.     [Hebrew.] 

Also  I  —  Gabriel  —in  the  first  year  of  Darius 
the  Mede,  even  I,  stood  to  confirm  and  to  strengthen 
him.  —  This  does  not  indicate  a  change  of  date,  it 
simply  declares  that  the  same  solicitude  was  now 
bestowed  on  Cyrus,  as  had  been  manifested  toward 
his  royal  representative  Darius  the  Mede,  when  first 
placed  on  the  throne  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus. 

2.  And  now — "in  the  third  year"  since  Cyrus 
captured  the  city.  Daniel  x.  1. — will  I  show  thee 
the  truth.  Behold  there  shall  stand  up  yet  —  after 
the  setting  up  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  host, 
B.C.  445,  three  kings  in  Persia,  viz. :  Darius  Nothus, 
Artaxerxes  Mnemon,  and  Ochus,  — and  the  fourth 
—  Darius  Codomannus  —shall  be  far  richer  than 
they  all :  and  by  his  strength  and  through  his  riches 
he  shall  stir  up  all  against  the  realm  of  Grecia. 

3.  And  a  mighty  king  —  Alexander  the  Great  — 
shall  stand  up,  that  shall  rule  with  great  dominion, 
and  do  according  to  his  will.  —  from  Greece  to 
India. 

4.  And  when  he  shall  stand  up,  his  kingdom  shall 
be  broken,  and  shall  be  divided  toward  the  four 
winds  of  heaven; — among  his  four  generals;  — 
and  not  to  his  posterity,  nor  according  to  his  dominion 
which  he  ruled :  for  his  kingdom  shall  be  plucked  up, 
even  for  others  beside  those. 

(77) 


78  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

5.  And  the  king  of  the  south  —  Ptolemy  Phila- 
delphus,  king  of  Egypt  —  shall  be  strong,  and  one 
of  his  princes;  and  he  shall  be  strong  above  him 

—  Antiochus  n  — and  have  dominion;  his  dominion 
shall  be  a  great  dominion. 

6.  And  in  the  end  of  the  years  —  in  the  course  of 
time  —  they  shall  join  themselves  together;  for  the 
king's  daughter  —  Bernice  —  of  the  south  shall 
come  to  the  king  of  the  north  to  make  an  agreement : 

—  Antiochus  banished  his  own  wife  Laodice  and 
her  children  in  favor  of  Bernice  —  but  she  shall  not 
retain  the  power  of  the  arm;  neither  shall  he  stand, 
nor  his  arm :  but  she  shall  be  given  up  —  Antiochus 
after  the  death  of  Ptolemy  expelled  Bernice  and  re- 
called the  rejected  Laodice.  —  and  they  that  brought 
her,  and  he  that  begat  her,  and  he  that  strengthened 
her  in  these  times. 

7.  But  out  of  a  branch  of  her  roots  —  Ptolemy 
ii,  called  Evergetes  —  shall  one  stand  up  in  his 
estate,  which  shall  come  with  an  army,  and  shall 
enter  into  the  fortress  of  the  king  of  the  north  and 
shall  deal  against  them  and  shall  prevail :  —  Laodice 
placed  her  son  Seleucus  n  on  the  throne.  Ptolemy 
in  made  an  expedition  against  Syria,  slew  Laodice 
and  conquered  the  realm  from  Cilicia  to  the  Tigris. 

8.  And  shall  also  carry  captives  into  Egypt  their 
gods,  with  their  princes,  and  with  their  precious  ves- 
sels of  silver  and  of  gold  —  the  booty  was  immense, 
25C0  idols,  4000  talents  of  gold,  etc.  —  and  he  shall 
continue  more  years  than  the  king  of  the  north. 


DANIEL  XI  79 

0.  So  the  king  of  the  south  shall  come  into  his 
kingdom,  and  shall  return  into  his  own  land. 

10.  But  his  sons  —  Seleucus  in  and  Antiochus 
in,  the  Great  —  shall  be  stirred  up  and  shall  assem- 
ble a  multitude  of  great  forces :  and  one  shall  certainly 
come,  and  overflow,  and  pass  through;  then  shall  he 
return,  and  be  stirred  up,  even  to  his  fortress. 

11.  And  the  king  of  the  south  —  Ptolemy  iv, 
was  luxurious  and  indolent  —  shall  be  moved  with 
choler,  and  shall  come  forth  and  fight  with  him, 
even  with  the  king  of  the  north:  and  he  shall  set 
forth  a  great  multitude:  but  the  multitude  shall  be 
given  into  his  hand.  —  Ptolemy  defeated  Antiochus 
near  Gaza  but  did  not  follow  up  the  victory. 

12.  And  when  he  hath  taken  away  the  multitude, 
his  heart  shall  be  lifted  up;  and  he  shall  cast  down 
many  ten  thousands:  but  he  shall  not  be  strength- 
ened by  it. 

13.  For  the  king  of  the  north  —  Antiochus  the 
Great  —  shall  return,  and  shall  set  forth  a  multitude 
greater  than  the  former,  and  shall  certainly  come  after 
certain  years  with  a  great  army  and  with  much  riches. 

14.  And  in  those  times  there  shall  many  stand 
up  against  the  king  of  the  south;  also  the  robbers 
of  thy  people  —  secret  enemies  of  the  Jews  —  shall 
exalt  themselves  to  establish  the  vision;  but  they 
shall  fail. 

15.  So  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come,  and  cast 
up  a  mount,  and  take  the  most  fenced  cities;  and 
the  arms  of  the  south  shall  not  withstand,  neither 


80  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

his  chosen  people,  neither  shall  there  be  any  strength 
to  withstand. 

16.  But  he  that  cometh  against  him  shall  do 
according  to  his  own  will, —  the  wars  of  Antiochus 
the  Great  —  and  none  shall  stand  before  him :  and 
he  shall  stand  in  the  glorious  land —  Palestine  — 
which  by  his  hand  shall  be  consumed. 

17.  He  shall  also  set  his  face  to  enter  with  the 
strength  of  his  whole  kingdom,  and  upright  ones 
with  him ;  thus  shall  he  do :  and  he  shall  give  him  the 
daughter  of  women,  corrupting  her: — Using  mar- 
riage for  political  gain :  Antiochus  gave  his  daughter 
Cleopatra  in  marriage  to  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  hoping 
for  benefit,  but  it  turned  out  otherwise —  but  she 
shall  not  stand  on  his  side,  neither  be  for  him. 

18.  After  this  he  shall  turn  his  face  unto  the  Isles, 
and  shall  take  many:  but  a  prince — a  Roman 
General  —  for  his  own  behalf  shall  cause  the  re- 
proach offered  by  him  to  cease;  without  his  own 
reproach — Antiochus  said: — "Asia  did  not  con- 
cern the  Romans  and  he  was  not  subject  to  their 
orders"  —  he  shall  cause  it  to  turn  upon  him. —  He 
was  defeated  by  the  Romans,  at  Magnesia. 

19.  Then  he  shall  turn  his  face  toward  the  fort 
of  his  own  land; — pillage  the  temples —  but  he 
shall  stumble  and  fall,  and  not  be  found.  —  Antio- 
chus the  Great  was  slain. 

20.  Then  shall  stand  up  in  his  estate  a  raiser  of 
taxes  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom : —  his  son  Seleucus 
Philopater,  who  sent  out  Heliodorus  and  taxed  the 


DANIEL  XI  81 

temples  as  well  as  the  people  —  but  within  a  few 
days  he  shall  be  destroyed,  neither  in  anger,  nor 
in  battle — Seleucus  shortly  after,  died  in  a  mys- 
terious manner. 

21.  And  in  his  estate  shall  stand  up  a  vile  person, 
—  Antiochus  Epiphanes  —  to  whom  they  shall  not 
give  the  honor  of  the  kingdom :  but  he  shall  come  in 
peaceably,  and  obtain  the  kingdom  by  flatteries. 

22.  And  with  the  arms  of  a  flood  shall  they  be 
overflown  from  before  him,  and  shall  be  broken; 
yea,  also  the  prince  of  the  covenant.  —  Onias  III, 
the  high  priest  was  put  to  death  by  his  order. 

23.  And  after  the  league  made  with  him  he  shall 
work  deceitfully:  for  he  shall  come  up,  and  shall 
become  strong  with  a  small  people. 

24.  He  shall  enter  peaceably  even  upon  the  fattest 
places  of  the  province;  and  he  shall  do  that  which 
his  fathers  have  not  done,  nor  his  father's  fathers; 
he  shall  scatter  among  them  the  prey,  and  spoil, 
and  riches:  yea,  and  he  shall  forecast  his  devices 
against  the  strongholds  even  for  a  time. 

25.  And  he  shall  stir  up  his  power  and  his  courage 
against  the  king  of  the  south  with  a  great  army;  and 
the  king  of  the  south  —  Ptolemy  Philometer  — 
shall  be  stirred  up  to  battle  with  a  very  great  and 
mighty  army;  but  he  shall  not  stand:  for  they  shall 
forecast  devices  against  him. 

26.  Yea,  they  that  feed  of  the  portion  of  his  meat 
shall  destroy  him,  and  his  army  shall  overflow:  and 
many  shall  fall  down  slain. 


82  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

27.  And  both  these  kings'  hearts  shall  be  to  do 
mischief,  and  they  shall  speak  lies  at  one  table  —  a 
pretended  friendship  —  but  it  shall  not  prosper : 
for  yet  the  end  shall  be  at  the  time  appointed. 

28.  Then  shall  he  return  into  his  land  with  great 
riches;  and  his  heart  shall  be  against  the  holy  cove- 
nant; —  the  worship  of  Jehovah  — and  he  shall  do 
exploits,  and  return  to  his  own  land. 

29.  At  the  time  appointed  he  shall  return,  and 
come  toward  the  south;  but  it  shall  not  be  as  the 
former,  or  as  the  latter. 

30.  For  the  ships  of  Chittim  —  the  fleet  of  the 
Romans  under  Laenas  —  shall  come  against  him : 
therefore  he  shall  be  grieved,  and  return,  and  have 
indignation  against  the  holy  covenant:  so  shall  he 
do;  he  shall  even  return,  and  have  intelligence  with 
them  —  the  Samaritans  —  that  forsake  the  holy 
covenant. 

31.  And  arms  shall  stand  on  his  part,  and  they 
shall  pollute  the  sanctuary  of  strength,  —  the  Tem- 
ple —  and  shall  take  away  the  daily  sacrifice,  and 
they  shall  place  the  abomination  that  maketh  deso- 
late. —  Antiochus  Epiphanes  established  idol-altars 
in  every  town  and  village  of  Palestine,  and  ordered 
a  daily  sacrifice  of  swine  on  the  altars. 

32.  And  such  as  do  wickedly  against  the  covenant 
shall  he  corrupt  by  flatteries :  but  the  people  that  do 
know  their  God  shall  be  strong  and  do  exploits. 
—  Mattathias  and  his  5  sons,  the  "Maccabees." 

33.  And  they  that  understand  among  the  people 


DANIEL  XI  83 

shall  instruct  many:  yet  they  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
and  by  flame,  by  captivity,  and  by  spoil,  many  days. 

34.  Now  when  they  shall  fall,  they  shall  be  holpen 
with  a  little  help :  but  many  shall  cleave  to  them  with 
flatteries.  —  see  life  of  Judas  Maccabeus. 

35.  And  some  of  them  of  understanding  shall 
fall,  to  try  them,  and  to  purge,  and  to  make  them 
white,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end :  because  it  is  yet 
for  a  time  appointed. 

36.  And  the  king  shall  do  according  to  his  will; 
and  he  shall  exalt  himself,  and  magnify  himself 
above  every  god,  and  shall  speak  marvellous  things 
against  the  God  of  gods,  and  shall  prosper  till  the 
indignation  be  accomplished:  for  that,  that  is  deter- 
mined shall  be  done. 

37.  Neither  shall  he  regard  the  god  of  his  fathers, 
nor  the  desire  of  women,  —  in  other  words,  the  idol 
Astarte,  "the  queen  of  heaven"  —  nor  regard  any 
god :  for  he  shall  magnify  himself  above  all. 

38.  But  in  his  estate  shall  he  honor  the  God  of 
forces :  —  a  god  of  castles  or  fortresses  —  and  a  god 
whom  his  fathers  knew  not  shall  he  honor  with  gold, 
and  silver,  and  with  precious  stones,  and  pleasant 
things. 

39.  Thus  shall  he  do  in  the  most  strongholds  with 
a  strange  god,  whom  he  shall  acknowledge  and 
increase  with  glory:  and  he  shall  cause  them  to  rule 
over  many,  and  shall  divide  the  land  for  gain. 

40.  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  the  king  of 
the  south  push  at  him:  and  the  king  of  the  north 


84  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

shal  come  against  him  like  a  whirlwind,  with 
chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  with  many  ships; 
and  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries,  and  shall  over- 
flow and  pass  over. 

41.  He  shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious  land, — 
Palestine  —  and  many  countries  shall  be  over- 
thrown: but  these  shall  escape  out  of  his  hand,  even 
Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the  children  of 
Amnion —  Antiochus  passed  them  by.  When,  how- 
ever, they  tried  to  take  advantage  of  Judus  Macca- 
beus, he  defeated  them. 

42.  He  shall  stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon  the 
countries :  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape. 

43.  But  he  shall  have  power  over  the  treasures  of 
gold  and  of  silver,  and  over  all  the  precious  things 
of  Egypt :  and  the  Libyans  and  the  Ethiopians  shall 
be  at  his  steps. 

44.  But  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north 
shall  trouble  him: — rumors  of  rebellion  and  lack 
of  funds  made  him  resolve  to  go  at  once  to  Persia, 
restore  order  and  collect  taxes.  —  therefore  he  shall 
go  forth  with  great  fury —  Threatened  on  his  return 
to  exterminate  the  Jews  —  to  destroy,  and  utterly 
to  make  away  many. 

45.  And  he  shall  plant  the  tabernacles  of  his 
palace  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  moun- 
tain;—  he  left  a  garrison  in  the  Citadel  adjoining 
the  Temple  —  yet  he  shall  come  to  his  end —  B.C. 
163  —  and  none  shall  help  him. 


CHAPTER  XII.     [Hebrew.] 

1.  And  at  that  time  shall  Michael  —  the  arch- 
angel, see  Jude  verse  9  —  stand  up,  the  great  prince 
which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people:  and 
there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was 
since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time, 
—  "For  then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was 
not  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time,  no, 
nor  ever  shall  be."  Matt.  xxiv.  21.  Josephus  says 
1,100,000  perished  in  the  Siege.  —  and  at  that  time 
thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  —  "But  he  that  shall 
endure  unto  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved/' 
Matt.  xxiv.  13  —  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
written  in  the  book.  —  At  the  time  of  the  siege  all 
of  the  Christians  escaped  to  the  little  town  of  Pella. 

2.  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the 
earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and 
some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  —  As  to 
the  righteous: — "  the  graves  were  opened;  and 
many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose.  And 
came  out  of  the  graves  after  his  resurrection,  and 
went  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared  unto  many." 
Matt,  xxvii.  52.  As  to  the  wicked: — Scripture  is 
silent. 

3.  And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament;  and  they  that  turn  many  to 

(85) 


86  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.  —  Wit- 
ness for  instance  the  life  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and 
the  lives  of  a  vast  host  of  Christian  saints. 

4.  But  thou,  O  Daniel,  shut  up  the  words,  and 
seal  the  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end:  many 
shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  in- 
creased. — These  words  find  special  emphasis  in 
the  present  century,  noted  for  its  railways,  steam 
engines,  automobiles,  bicycles,  telephones,  wireless 
telegraphy,  public  libraries,  books,  photographs, 
microscopes,  antitoxins,  a>rays,  etc. 

5.  Then  I  Daniel  looked,  and,  behold,  there  stood 
other  two,  the  one  on  this  side  of  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  the  other  on  that  side  of  the  bank  of  the 
river.  —  In  verses  4  and  5  of  chapter  x,  Daniel  be- 
held only  one  heavenly  visitor,  he  now  looks  and 
discovers  other  two. 

6.  And  one  said  to  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which 
was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  How  long  shall  it  be 
to  the  end  of  these  wonders? 

7.  And  I  heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which 
was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  when  he  held  up 
his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand  unto  heaven,  and 
sware  by  him  that  liveth  for  ever  that  it  shall  be  for 
a  time,  times,  and  an  half;  and  when  he  shall  have 
accomplished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people, 
all  these  things  shall  be  finished.  —  Since  the  power 
of  the  holy  people  was  scattered  in  a.  d.  70,  all 
these  things  were  finished  at  that  time  and  right 
there  Daniel's  prophetic  work  ended.    The  formula, 


DANIEL  XII  87 

"time,  times,  and  an  half"  has  already  been  con- 
sidered under  the  head  of  Dan.  vn.  25.  See  Note  B. 

8.  And  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not:  then  said  I, 
O  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of  these  things? 

9.  And  he  said,  Go  thy  way,  Daniel:  for  the 
words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the 
end. 

10.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and  made  white,  — 
"And  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls." — Acts  II.  41. — "How- 
beit  many  of  them  which  heard  the  word  believed, 
and  the  number  of  the  men  was  about  five  thou- 
sand."— Acts  iv.  4 —  and  tried;  —  "At  that  time 
there  was  a  great  persecution  against  the  church 
which  was  at  Jerusalem."  —  Acts  vin.  1  —  but  the 
wicked  shall  do  wickedly:  and  none  of  the  wicked 
shall  understand;  but  the  wise  shall  understand. 

11.  And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice  shall 
be  taken  away  and  the  abomination  that  maketh 
desolate  set  up  —  the  sacrifice  of  swine  and  pollu- 
tion of  the  holy  place  B.C.  168  to  141  —  there  shall 
be  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  days. 

In  B.C.  168,  these  sacrifices  were  ordered  to  be 
made  daily,  in  every  village  and  town  throughout 
Palestine.  The  desecration  of  the  temple  area  lasted 
until  May  4th  B.C.  141.  Every  moment  of  this 
time  was  part  of  one  great  abomination.  Count- 
ing each  prophetic  day  as  made  up  of  49  ordinary 
days,  the  1290  days  bring  us  to  May  24th  a.d.  33 

— THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST — "THAT  GREAT   AND 


88  PROPHETIC  SECTION 

notable  day  of  the  lord  " — when  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  revealed  to  the  Jews,  and  about  3000 
souls  were  converted. 

12.  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth  —  the  Gentiles — 
and  cometh  to  the  thousand  three  hundred  and  five 
and  thirty  days.  —  the  Gentiles  did  wait  for  six 
years,  while  the  disciples  were  busy,  "preaching 

THE  WORD  TO  NONE,  BUT  UNTO  THE  JEWtS  ONLY.', 

Acts  xi.  19. —  If  now  we  make  the  calculation  for 
1335  days,  we  shall  find,  that  the  prophecy  brings  us 
direct  to  June  7th  a.d.  39  —  on  which  day,  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  revealed  to  the  gentiles. 

13.  But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be:  for  thou 
shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days. 

Thus  the  heavenly  visitor  announced  the  fact  of 
a  resurrection  day,  but  gave  no  intimation  what- 
ever as  to  when  that  day  would  come.  In  this 
respect  also  the  teachings  of  Daniel  are  in  perfect 
accord  with  those  of  the  New  Testament.  "Of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man;  no,  not 
the  angels  of  Heaven."     Matt.  xxiv.  36. 


NOTES. 


JEWISH  INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


The  era  of  the  Seleucidse  among  the  Greeks  and 
Eastern  nations,  sometimes  called  the  "era  of  con- 
tracts," dated  from  the  capture  of  Babylon  by 
Seleucus  Nicator,  Oct.  1st  B.C.  312.  The  complete 
subjugation  of  the  city  followed  6  months  later,  and 
therefore  the  Babylonians  counted  from  the  spring 
of  B.C.  311.  With  this  exception  the  former  date 
has  been  generally  regarded  as  the  true  epoch.  The 
years  run  as  below: 


YEARS    OF    THE    SELETJCHXE. 
1st    year    began   Oct.  b.c.  312  and  ended  Oct.  B.C.  311 


2nd   ' 

c        1 1 

1 1 

311 

n                   i 

310 

3rd   ' 

t        1 1 

1 1 

310 

i  c                    ( 

309 

5th   ' 

i       1 1 

i  t 

308 

i  i                    i 

307 

10th   ' 

i       i  i 

i  i 

303 

a                            i 

302 

50th  ' 

{       ( i 

11 

263 

i  i                            i 

262 

100th   « 

i       1 1 

i  i 

213 

i  t                           i 

212 

150th   ' 

i       i  c 

i  i 

163 

( t                            t 

162 

170th   ' 

(       i  i 

1 1 

143 

1 1                            t 

142 

171st   ' 

C                i  I 

i( 

142 

«  S                                           l 

141 

and  so  or 

i: 

We  pause  at  the  beginning  of  the  171st  year  be- 
cause it  was  a  year  of  great  moment  in  the  life  of 
the  Jewish  nation.  The  deepest  interest  is  focussed 
on  "the  23rd  day  of  the  2nd  month"  when  Simon, 
brother  of  Judas  Maccabeus,  "destroyed  a  great 
enemy  out  of  Israel,"  and  cleansed  the  Temple  of 
(91) 


92  NOTES 

its  abominations.  He  also  ordained,  that  the  day 
should  be  observed  ever  after,  as  a  National 
holiday.  —  i  Mace.  xm.  51. 

We  note  that  the  171st  year,  like  all  others  of 
the  SeleucidaB,  began  with  the  month  of  October, 
which  was  the  first  month  of  the  Macedonian  cal- 
endar. It  was  called  Hyperberetaeus,  the  second 
month  Dius,  the  third,  Apellaeus  and  so  on.  But 
the  question  that  concerns  us  most  is,  whether  the 
writer  of  First  Maccabees  actually  reckoned  by 
Macedonian  months?  A  careful  examination  of  the 
entire  book  shows  that  he  mentioned  4  Hebrew 
months  byname  —  "Casleu,  Adar,Elul  and  Sabat" — 
also  that  he  clearly  located  another,  viz :  —  Tisri,  but 
not  in  a  single  instance  did  he  mention  the  name 
of  a  Macedonian  month,  or  refer  to  the  Macedo- 
nian calendar  in  any  manner  whatsoever.  That  he 
did  not  regard  October  as  being  the  first  month  is 
plainly  declared  in  i  Mace.  x.  21,  where  he  says: — 

"So  in  the  seventh  month  of  the  160th 
"year,  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  Jonathan 
"put  on  the  holy  robe,"  etc. 

Sept./Oct.  therefore  was  the  seventh  month, 
according  to  the  usage  of  the  writer  of  the  First 
book  of  Maccabees,  which  gives  the  following  suc- 
cession : — 

B.C.  142  Sept./Oct.,  the  seventh  month  tisri 

Oct. /Nov.,     "    eighth         "       Marchesvan 
"         Nov. /Dec,    "    ninth  "       Casleu 

"         Dec. /Jan.,     "    tenth  "       Tebeth 


JEWISH  INDEPENDENCE  DAY  93 

B.C.  141  Jan. /Feb.,  the  eleventh  month  Shebat 
"         Feb. /March  "  twelfth      "  adar 

"         Mar./April,  "    first  "  nisan 

"         Apr./May,     "   second         "  iyar 

The  rest  of  the  way  is  easy.  We  have  only  to 
follow  the  Jewish  calendar  of  Rabbi  Hillel  n  and 
we  learn  that  the  "23rd  day  of  the  second  month' ' 
corresponded  with  the 

4th  day  of  May  b.c.  141, 
the  great  day  of  National  Independence.  Having 
thus  far  followed  exclusively  the  years  of  the  Seleu- 
cidae  as  common  among  Greeks  and  Orientals,  let 
us  now  turn  to  the  system  of  the  Babylonians. 
Their  era  began,  as  already  explained,  with  the 
spring  of  B.C.  311.  Accordingly,  their  171st  year 
began  with  the  spring  of  b.c.  141,  and  the  second 
month  of  course  coincided  with  Apr./May,  or  the 
Jewish  month  Iyar.  It  matters  not,  therefore, 
whether  you  follow  the  system  of  the  Greeks  or 
that  of  the  Babylonians,  you  will  arrive  at  the  same 
goal,  viz:  —  May  4th  B.C.  141. 

One  can  hardly  overestimate  the  importance  of 
this  discovery,  because  a  knowledge  of  the  National 
Independence  day  gives  a  fixed  starting  point  for 
that  mysterious  group  of  days  —  2300,  1290  and 
1335  —  as  revealed  by  the  angel  Gabriel  to  "Daniel 
the  Prophet/' 


NOTE  A. 

DARIUS,    OR   CYAXARES.      [DANIEL   V.    31.] 

"And  Darius  the  Median  took  the  kingdom, 
being  about  threescore  and  two  years  old."  In 
the  first  verse  of  the  9th  chapter  we  are  told  that 
Darius  was  the  son  of  Ahasuerus,  the  same  Assuerus 
spoken  of  in  the  15th  verse  of  the  14th  chapter  of 
Tobit,  the  Astyages  of  Median  history.  Astyages  was 
king  of  the  Medes  and  reigned  for  35  years  from 
B.C.  593-558.  His  son  Cyaxares  [Josephus  x.  11, 4.] 
succeeded  him  on  the  throne  and  his  daughter  Man- 
dane  married  Cambyses  of  Persia.  Their  offspring 
was  Cyrus  the  Great,  who  thus  represented  the  Royal 
houses  of  both  Media  and  Persia.  Cyaxares  there- 
fore was  the  uncle  of  Cyrus.  As  a  boy  Cyrus  was 
brought  up  by  his  grandfather  and  accompanied 
his  uncle  on  shooting  expeditions.  A  very  strong 
attachment  was  formed  with  the  latter  so  that  in 
after  years  when  Cyrus  deposed  his  grandfather, 
in  B.C.  558,  he  made  his  uncle  the  king  of  Media. 
Still  later  when  Cyrus  took  Babylon  and  pacified  the 
inhabitants  he  made  his  uncle  Cyaxares  king  pro 
tern,  who  occupied  the  throne  from  b.c  538-536. 
Cyrus  of  course  continued  to  be,  as  the  annalistic 
tablet  relates,  "the  powerful  king,  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, "the  king  of  Sumar  and  Akkad"— the  king  of 
the  four  zones."  But  the  laws  of  Persia  as  outlined 
(95) 


96  NOTES 

by  Herodotus  [vn.  1.  2.  and  in.  66]  made  it  necessary 
for  him  to  appoint  a  successor  before  starting  out 
to  war,  who  would  govern  during  his  absence.  So 
we  find,  "after  Gobryas  the  governor  of  the  country 
of  Ararat  and  the  soldiers  of  Cyrus,  without  fighting 
entered  Babylon/'  the  country  became  submissive 
and  attention  could  be  directed  elsewhere;  that 
"when  in  the  course  of  their  march  they  arrived  in 
the  Median  territory  Cyrus  turned  off  to  visit  Cyax- 
ares ;  and  after  they  had  embraced  each  other,  Cyrus 
first  told  Cyaxares  that  there  were  domestics  and 
palaces  set  apart  for  him  in  Babylon,  that  when  he 
came  thither  he  might  have  what  was  his  own  to 
come  to."  [Xenophon  vin.]  It  is  hard  to  imagine 
how  Cyrus  could  have  paved  the  way  more  perfectly 
for  the  reign  of  his  uncle  Cyaxares  in  Babylon,  whom 
we  believe  was  Darius  the  Mede  of  Scripture.  His 
reign  was  of  short  duration,  but  it  came  at  a  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Jews.  Only  two  years 
remained  to  complete  the  Babylonion  captivity  and 
Divine  influences  were  at  work  for  the  return  of 
the  chosen  people.  [Daniel  x.  13.]  More  than  a 
century  previous  to  that  time  the  Scriptures  had 
named  Cyrus  as  the  "shepherd,"  [Isaiah  xlv.  1,  3.] 
and  when  Cyrus  placed  his  uncle  temporarily  on 
the  throne  of  Babylon,  a  heavenly  messenger  was 
sent  to  Darius  who  "stood  to  confirm  and  strengthen 
him."  [Daniel  XI.  1.]  This  gave  the  Jews  a  friend 
at  court  who  paved  the  way  for  that  celebrated  eman- 
cipation  proclamation  which  Cyrus   issued  on   his 


DARIUS,  OR  CYAXARES  97 

return  to  Babylon.  Naturally  such  a  document  be- 
longed among  the  state  papers  and  should  have 
been  found  "in  the  house  of  the  rolls  where  the 
treasures  were  laid  up  in  Babylon,' '  but  diligent 
search  proved  of  no  avail.  [Ezra  VI.  1.]  However, 
as  the  document  was  dated  in  the  time  of  Darius  the 
Mede,  official  attention  was  next  directed  to  "the 
palace  that  is  in  the  province  of  the  Medes,"  where  a 
careful  search  proved  successful.  [Ezra  VI.  2.]  There 
they  found  the  original  "roll"  stowed  away  among 
the  royal  documents  and  forwarded  it  to  King  Darius 
Hystaspes.  The  king  promptly  ratified  the  decree 
of  Cyrus  and  added,  "Let  it  be  done  with  speed." 
The  history  of  Darius  the  Mede  is  therefore  one  of 
peculiar  interest  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  people. 


NOTE  B. 

"the  sum  of  the  matters."  [DANIEL  VII.  1  AND  25.] 

The  vision  of  the  four  great  beasts  is  now  com- 
plete and  we  have  reached  the  sum  of  the  matters 
in  verse  25.  Already  in  chapter  n.  the  same  subject 
was  summarized  by  the  following  language:  "In 
the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set 
up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed  .  .  . 
and  it  shall  stand  forever."  The  present  summary 
differs  from  the  first  in  that  it  localizes  the  endless 
kingdom,  and  tells  the  year  when  it  would  be  set 
up.  Whenever  we  send  a  telegram  and  wish  to  con- 
ceal our  meaning  from  the  public  we  employ  single 
words  to  express  conditions  and  quantities.  Twice, 
Daniel  was  told  by  his  heavenly  visitor: — "shut 
thou  up  the  vision,"  it  is  therefore  proper  to  infer 
that  the  word  time  was  used  to  express  a  certain 
number  of  years  and  times  to  express  a  greater 
number  of  years.  But  what  heavenly  measure  of 
time  do  we  find  in  the  Bible,  associated  with  the 
punishment  of  nations,  that  can  be  taken  as  the 
unit  period  for  measuring  seasons  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure? Turn  to  Zech.  I.  12th  and  we  read: — 
"Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  answered  and  said, 
O  Lord  of  hosts,  how  long  wilt  thou  not  have  mercy 
on  Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of  Judah  against 
which  thou  hast  had  indignation  these  threescore 
(99) 


100  NOTES 

and  ten  years."  For  other  examples,  see  Note  D. 
If  then  the  word  time  was  inserted  in  the  heavenly 
message  as  a  symbol  for  70  years,  and  the  numeral 
7  conveyed  to  the  Jewish  mind  the  idea  of  a  perfect 
quantity,  then  a  week  of  time,  or  7  times  70  might 
very  naturally  be  symbolized  by  the  word  times. 
We  find  in  Gen.  n.  4.  that  the  7  days  of  creation 
are  spoken  of  in  the  singular  as,  "the  day  the 
Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens."  Be- 
sides every  7th  year  was  a  Sabbatic  year.  So  that 
whatever  the  word  time  means  in  the  singular, 
we  may  reasonably  take  the  word  times  to  mean 
a  7  fold  quantity  in  the  plural.  We  find  another 
measure  in  Matt,  xviii.  22.  where  the  Divine  idea 
of  forgiveness  is  expressed  in  numerals.  The  apostle 
Peter  thought  that  he  did  well  in  fixing  the  unit  of 
forgiveness  at  7  fold,  but  he  was  told  to  multiply 
his  scant  number  by  70  before  he  could  attain  to  the 
Divine  standard.  If  now  we  substitute  these  values 
for  their  symbols  in  the  formula:  "Time,  Times  and 
Half-time"  we  shall  obtain,  70  plus  490,  plus  35, 
equals  to  595  years.  Verse  four  supplies  the  initial 
date  for  this  series  of  years.  From  it  we  learn  that 
the  "sum  of  the  matters"  started  with  the  Medo- 
Persian  kingdom  of  Cyrus,  who  united  in  his  own 
person  the  blood  of  both  royal  houses  and  became 
king  in  B.C.  558.  From  this  date  to  the  Christian 
era  was  557  years  and  from  the  era  to  a.d.  39  was 
38  years  more,  making  a  total  of  557  plus  38,  or 
595  years.     From  which  we  learn  that  the  "sum  of 


THE  SUM  OF  THE  MATTERS  101 

the  matters"  or  the  full  time  arrived  for  the  setting 
up  of  the  kingdom  in  a.d.  39.  The  prophecy  there- 
fore gives  us  the  year,  and  we  shall  find  that  the  12th 
verse  of  the  12th  chapter  supplies  the  day  when 
"all  these  things"  were  finished.  The  apostle  Peter 
in  describing  the  events  of  that  day  said: — " Foras- 
much then  as  God  gave  them  (the  Gentiles)  the 
like  gift  as  he  did  unto  us,  who  believed  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  what  was  I,  that  I  could  withstand 
God?  When  they  heard  these  things  they  held 
their  peace,  and  glorified  God,  saying,  Then  hath 
God  also  on  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto 
life."    Acts  xi.  17.  18. 

The  admission  of  the  Gentiles  was  deemed  a 
matter  of  so  great  importance  that  the  formula  has 
been  repeated  in  the  7th  verse  of  the  12th  chapter, 
also  material  has  been  given  in  the  12th  verse 
of  the  same  chapter  by  which  the  very  day  itself 
can  be  computed.  The  passages  stand  to  each 
other  in  the  relation  of  demonstration  to  proof. 


NOTE  C. 

"days." 

In  searching  for  symbolic  numbers  we  found  that 
number  49  stood  both  for  the  Jubilee  year  and  for 
the  Feast  of  Weeks -.—Concerning  the  Jubilee  it  was 
said:— "And     thou    shalt    number    7    sabbaths    of 
years  unto  thee,  7  times  7  years:  and  the  space  of  7 
sabbaths  of  years  shall  be   unto  thee  49  years." 
Leviticus  xxv.  8— Concerning  Pentecost  it  was  said: 
"And  thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  weeks  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God"— "Seven  weeks  shalt  thou  number 
unto  thee:  begin  to  number  the  7  weeks  from  such 
time  as  thou  beginnest  to  put  the  sickle  to  the  corn." 
Deu.  xvi.  9.  10.   The  feast  was  to  be  kept  in  a  four- 
fold manner  with  the  offering  of  a  tribute,  with  re- 
joicing,   with   remembrance,    and   with   obedience. 
For  more  than  3600  years  has  this  beautiful  custom 
been  observed  among  the  Jews,  so  that  49,  the  num- 
ber of  days,  comes   to   us  with  special  emphasis. 
With  such  a  prominent  place  assigned  to  it  in  the 
Jewish  ritual,  no  wonder  if  it  found  a  place  in  the 
symbolic  language  of  the  heavenly  visitor.    We  have 
discovered  that  such  was  the  case  and  accordingly 
have  made  calculations  for  the  three  periods  repre- 
sented by  "2300  days,"  "1290  days"  and  "45  days" 
(1335  less  1290)  on  the  basis  that  each  prophetic 
"day"  equals  49  ordinary  days  of  24  hours  each. 
(103) 


104  NOTES 

They  stand  for  112,700  ordinary  days;  63,210  days 
and  2205  days.  In  reducing  these  days  to  years 
the  sidereal  year  was  taken  as  the  Standard  year. 
A  sidereal  year,  or  time  in  which  the  earth  makes 
one  revolution,  the  point  of  reference  being  a  fixed 
star,  amounts  to  365  days  6  hours  9  minutes  9t6q- 
seconds,  expressed  decimally  it  equals  365.2563611 
days.  By  dividing  each  period  of  ordinary  days 
by  the  number  of  days  in  a  sidereal  year  we  obtain 
the  actual  length  of  each  prophetic  period.  In 
arranging  these  periods,  the  starting  point  was  May 
4th  B.C.  141,  or  day  on  which  the  Temple  precincts 
were  cleansed  by  Simon  Maccabeus.  The  1290 
days  carries  us  directly  to  May  24th  a.d.  33,  which 
was  the  day  of  Pentecost  "that  great  and  notable 
day  of  the  Lord"  when  the  Holy  Spirit  descended 
upon  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  in  this  case  how  very  precise  is  the  language 
of  Scripture.  The  passage  reads: — "When  the  day 
of  Pentecost  was  fully  come."  After  their  return 
from  Babylon  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  devote 
two  days,  instead  of  one,  to  the  observance  of  the 
feast,  and  as  Pentecost  that  year  fell  on  May  23rd 
and  24th,  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come  on 
the  day  indicated  by  our  chart.  The  event  there- 
fore happened  precisely  as  foretold  by  the  heavenly 
visitor,  who  said  to  Daniel,  "the  vision  of  the  even- 
ing and  the  morning  which  was  told  is  true,"  and 
it  came  about  with  that  degree  of  exactness  with 
which  astronomers  become  familiar  in  their  study 


KEY     TO     DANIEL'S     PROPHECIES. 

1290  DATS.— Dan.  m.  11.  1335  DAYS.-  Dan.  m. 


:;i,,-.,i;.a,ll 
lli.lii-j-llll 

iKai-Jii»uvi 


1  |...:_- i::i  ir.pivus  ; 


28684  163890 

»s,;:;,4;,j77 
iih;ii.m;i*i 


13.4i-.lsS8444701fida.™. 


'■  TEMPLE  C'T.E\NSEH' 
5.  May  4  B.  C.  141  < 


••  PENTECOST" 
May  24  A.  D.  33 


'ound  Corrttt,  LAWl 


E.  BKOWS  i!  CO., 


DAYS  105 

of  the  heavenly  bodies.  The  chart  clearly  proves 
that  the  "1290  days"  is  a  perfect  fit  between  two  well- 
known  dates.  The  other  periods  give  us  two  ex- 
tremely important  dates  heretofore  absolutely  un- 
known to  Bible  students. 

The  Holy  Spirit's  appearance  to  the  Gentiles  in 
the  Summer  of  a.d.  39  was  at  a  time  peculiarly 
favorable  for  the  conversion  of  Cornelius.  The 
persecution  of  a.d.  36,  following  the  dismissal  of 
Pilate,  was  succeeded  by  a  period  of  rest  and  rapid 
growth  among  the  infant  churches.  There  was,  then, 
neither  the  marching  of  armies,  nor  even  the  rumor 
of  war.  True,  these  all  came  in  the  Fall  of  a.d. 
40,  when  Petronius  was  sent  to  Syria  with  instruc- 
tions to  place  the  images  of  the  Romans  in  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem.  It  may  be  said  in  passing, 
that  the  expedition  landed  in  Ptolemais  and  there 
wintered.  But  in  the  Spring  of  a.d.  41  the  attitude 
of  the  Jews  was  so  determined,  that  Petronius  sent 
to  Rome  for  additional  instructions.  The  Emperor, 
however,  died  quite  suddenly,  and  the  expedition 
was  finally  abandoned.  The  year  a.d.  39  was  a 
time  of  peace  and  good  order;  a  time  most  favor- 
able to  the  all-important  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


NOTE  D. 

"TW0    thousand    and    three    hundred    days, 
[dan.  viii.  14.] 

In  the  vision  of  "the  evening  and  the  morning" 
it  is  evident  that  2300  days  must  end  with  a  com- 
plete cleansing  of  the  sanctuary,  and  unquestionably 
this  was  accomplished  by  Simon  Maccabeus  on 
May  the  4th  B.C.  141.  [i  Mac.  xni.  51];  but  at  what 
time  they  should  begin  to  count  is  not  so  evident. 
The  19th  verse  tells  us:  "I  will  make  thee  know 
what  shall  be  in  the  last  end  of  the  indignation." 

We  ask:  what  indignation?  When  was  the  first 
end?  When  the  middle?  and  When  the  last  end? 
We  note  first,  that  the  speaker  was  the  angel 
Gabriel,  consequently  the  indignation  referred  to 
was  of  Divine  origin.  The  word  indignation  stands 
for  "sore  displeasure"  [Zech.  i.  2].  It  arose  in  the 
year  B.C.  590,  the  seventh  of  the  captivity,  at  which 
time  Israel  was  cast  off  and  Nebuchadnezzar  pre- 
pared to  wage  war  against  them.  It  was  announced 
in  the  following  words:— "As  I  live  saith  the  Lord 
God,  I  will  not  be  inquired  of  by  you"  [Ezek.  xx. 
3].  The  indignation  lasted  just  70  years  [Zech.  i.  12] 
and  ended  by  a  promise  of  pardon  made  in  the 
eighth  month,  which  according  to  the  calendar  of 
Rabbi  Hillel  n.  (Idan  Olamim  of  J.  L.  Sossnitz) 
began  October  25th  B.C.  520  [Zech.  I.  1  and  3].  We 
(107) 


108  NOTES 

note  in  passing  that  although  Cyrus  put  an  end 
to  the  Babylonian  captivity  in  B.C.  536  and  the  peo- 
ple returned  to  the  land  of  Judea,  yet  they  encoun- 
tered insuperable  obstacles  which  held  up  their 
work  [Ezra  v.  3]  until  the  year  B.C.  520,  which  was 
the  end  of  70  years'  indignation.  From  these  passages 
we  learn  what  were  the  limitations  in  one  case  of 
"sore  displeasure."  But  Isaiah  prophesied  that 
Jerusalem  would  receive  of  the  Lord's  hand  double 
for  all  her  sins  [Isa.  xl.  2].  Jeremiah  also  spoke  in 
the  same  vein  "And  first  I  will  recompense  their 
iniquity  and  their  sin  double"  [Jer.  xvi.  18].  When 
we  reach  B.C.  433  we  find  that  Nehemiah  dreaded 
a  still  further  return  of  God's  sore  displeasure  and 
warned  the  nobles  of  Judah  against  profaning  the 
Sabbath  day.  [Neh.  xm.  16.  18.]  As  the  first 
indignation  ended  with  the  8th  month  of  B.C.  520, 
a  double  period  ought  to  end  with  the  8th  month 
of  B.C.  450,  that  is,  with  October  2nd  of  that  year. 
But  you  object,  how  could  a  period  be  truly  70 
years  in  length,  when  it  began  with  October  25th 
and  ended  with  October  the  2nd?  This  question 
admits  of  easy  explanation.  According  to  the  Jew- 
ish calendar  the  eighth  month  comes  and  goes  with 
the  phases  of  the  moon,  just  like  our  Easter  occurs 
at  different  seasons,  hence  we  must  take  the  average 
of  these  dates,  viz:  October  the  14th  as  our  repre- 
sentative day.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  delays 
experienced  by  the  Jews  when  freed  by  Cyrus  and 
desire  at  this  point  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that 


2300  DAYS  109 

Zerubbabel's  temple  was  not  completed  until  B.C. 
515,  just  5  years  after  the  indignation  period  ex- 
pired, in  B.C.  520;  and  that  in  like  manner  Nehe- 
miah's  temple  was  not  completed  until  B.C.  445,  just 
5  years  after  the  next  indignation  period  expired, 
in  B.C.  450.  We  might  also  add  that  from  the  time 
when  the  Jews  first  worshipped  in  Babylon  as  cap- 
tives in  B.C.  585,  to  the  time  when  they  worshipped 
in  ZerubbabeFs  temple  as  free  men  in  B.C.  515  was 
another  instance  of  a  period  70  years  long.  This 
frequent  recurrence  of  70-year  periods  shows  that 
as  a  numeral  70  may  justly  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  units  of  time  in  the  dispensation  of  God's 
providence,  and  therefore  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
study  of  prophecy. 

But  returning  to  our  representative  day,  October 
14th  B.C.  450,  we  realize  that  when  the  first  and  the 
second  indignation  had  passed,  the  time  came  for 
''the  last  end  of  the  indignation"  spoken  of  in  the 
19th  verse,  and  known  as  the  "2300  days."  By  the 
calculations  given  in  Note  C,  we  find  that  2300 
prophetic  days  exactly  fill  the  interval  between 
Oct.  14th  B.C.  450  and  May  the  4th  B.C.  141.  Having 
thus  brought  out  the  limitations  of  the  "2300  days" 
we  would  add,  that  Daniel's  eleventh  chapter  gives 
in  outline  a  complete  history  of  the  period  under 
consideration,  so  that  the  Jews  had  it  in  their  power 
to  tell  the  prophetic  time  of  day  at  any  moment 
between  B.C.  450  and  B.C.  141. 


"DAYS." 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


End  of  the 


October  14,  b.  c.  450. 


Double  Indignation   ^ 

Jeremiah  XVI.  18. 


2300.. 


Temple  Cleansed; 

National 
Independence  Day 

I  Mac.  XIII.  51. 


1290. 


"  THAT  GREAT  AND 
NOTABLE  DAY  OF  THE  LORD.1 
"PENTECOST" 

Acts  II.  20. 


45. 


The  Holy  Spirit 
bestowed 


[Sabattic  year.] 


...DAYS.       [Dan.  vm,  14. 


May  4,  b.  c.  141. 


.DAYS.       LDan.  XII,  11. 


\/ 


May  24,  a.  d.  33. 


.DAYS  [=  1335  less  1290]. 

[Dan.  XII,  12.] 


'on  the  Gentiles  also. 

Acts  X.  45. 


June  7,  a.  d.  39. 


(Ill) 


NOTE  E. 

THE    EXODUS    FROM    PERSIA.       [DANIEL   IX.    25.] 

Ezra  gives  a  full  account  of  this  great  event  in 
his  history  of  the  Jews,  in  the  vmth  and  viith  chap- 
ters of  his  book,  where  he  says,  they  "began  to  go 
from  Babylon "  on  the  1st  day  of  the  1st  month  in 
the  7th  year  of  king  Artaxerxes,  also  that  they  were 
not  fairly  under  way  until  the  12th  day  of  the  1st 
month,  which  was  within  two  days  of  the  Passover. 
After  a  journey  of  4  months  they  arrived  at  the 
city  of  Jerusalem. 

In  fixing  the  date  of  the  Exodus  from  Persia  we 
must  determine  the  boundaries  of  the  7th  year  of 
Artaxerxes.  First,  as  to  the  year  itself,  it  has  been 
well  established  that  his  reign  began  in  B.C.  465. 
Then  as  to  the  month,  the  statement  found  in 
Neh.  i.  1.  and  ii.  1.  render  a  commencement  impos- 
sible between  the  months  of  November  and  March, 
while  the  statement  made  in  Ezra  vii.  7,  8  and  9  pre- 
clude the  interval  from  March  to  August  following. 
This  narrows  the  field  for  the  commencement  of 
Artaxerxes'  reign  down  to  the  months  of  August, 
September  and  October.  Although  there  is  no 
possible  way  of  distinguishing  between  the  relative 
claims  of  these  three  months,  yet  from  the  wording 
of  Nehemiah  I.  1.  we  shall  decide  in  favor  of  the  last, 
viz:  the  month  of  October. 
(113) 


114 


NOTES 


It  follows  that: — 

1st  year  of  Artaxerxes  began  Oct. 

b.c.  465,  ended  Oct.  b.c 

.464 

2nd 

"    464      " 

463 

3rd 

«    463       " 

462 

4th 

"    462       " 

461 

5th 

<<    461       « 

460 

6th 

"    460      " 

459 

7th  year  of  Artaxerxes  began  Oct.  B.C.  459,  ended  Oct.  B.C.  458 

and  so  on: 
20th  year  of  Artaxerxes  began  Oct.  b.c.  446,  ended  Oct.  b.c.  445 

and  so  on: 
32nd  year  of  Artaxerxes  began  Oct.  B.C.  434,  ended  Oct.  B.C.  433 

— Neh.  v.  14.  and  xm.  6. 

Whence  by  reference  to  the  calendar  of  Rabbi 
Hillel  ii.  [id an  olamim  of  J.  L.  Sossnitz],  we  derive 
the  following  dates  for  the 


Jews  began  to  leave  Babylon 
' '  left  the  river  of  Ahava 
' '     arrived  at  Jerusalem 


EXODUS  FROM    PERSIA! 

.  March  25th  b.c.  458 
.  .  April  5th  "  458 
.      .    Julv  21st    "     458 


In  conclusion  we  observe,  that  the  real  start  of 
the  Jews  under  the  commandment,  viz:  their  "going 
forth"  took  place:  April  5th  B.C.  458,  and  as  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead  on  April  5th  a.d.  33,  the  in- 
terval between  dates  amounted  to  490  years,  or 
seventy  weeks,  exactly  as  foretold  by  the  angel 
Gabriel  in  Daniel  ix.  24. 


NOTE  F. 

DATE    OF   THE   CRUCIFIXION.      [DAN.    IX.    26.] 

Since  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  points  directly  to 
the  time  when  Messiah  would  be  cut  off  and  not  to 
the  date  of  Christ's  birth,  it  is  evident  that  neither 
the  natal  day  nor  the  length  of  his  life  on  earth 
are  necessary  to  a  complete  understanding  of  the 
prophecy.  What  we  need  most  to  know  are  the  day 
and  the  year  in  which  Messiah  was  crucified.  Hap- 
pily these  points  can  be  determined  by  data  found  in 
the  Bible.  Turn  to  Luke  hi.  1  and  23  and  we  learn 
that  Jesus  "began  to  be  about  30  years  of  age"  in 
the  15th  year  of  Tiberius  Caesar.  Not  that  Jesus 
attained  the  age  of  30  in  the  15th  year  of  Tiberius, 
but  that  when  the  last  day  of  the  15th  year  arrived, 
viz:  Aug.  18th  a.d.  29,  Jesus  was  very  near  30  years 
old.  His  birthday  anniversary  therefore  comes  in 
the  Fall  of  the  year.  From  that  time  on,  we  count 
3 J  years  to  his  crucifixion  in  a.d.  33.  We  learn 
from  the  parable  of  the  barren  fig  tree,  also  from 
Daniel's  prophecy  that  Messiah's  ministry  would 
last  one-half  a  prophetic  week,  or  3J  years.  The 
parable  itself  accounts  for  3  years:  "Behold  these 
three  years  I  come  seeking  fruit  and  find  none;" 
and  since  the  parable  was  given,  about  the  time  of 
the  harvest  home,  or  feast  of  tabernacles,  another 
half  year  was  necessary  to  carry  the  time  over  from 
(115) 


116  NOTES 

the  feast  of  tabernacles  to  the  following  Passover. 
When  this  was  completed  his  ministry  ended.  At 
the  very  outset  of  our  Lord's  ministry  he  spoke  of 
the  work  before  him  and  proclaimed  God's  good 
pleasure  in  sending  him,  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
poor,  to  heal  the  broken  hearted,  to  preach  deliver- 
ance to  the  captives,  the  recovery  of  sight  to  the 
blind,  and  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 
[Luke  IV,  18.]  With  this  ministry  expressive  of 
God's  favor,  He  then  contrasted  the  ministry  of 
Elias,  expressive  of  God's  displeasure  "  when  the 
heaven  was  shut  up  3  years  and  six  months, 
when  great  famine  was  throughout  the  land."  This 
reference  seems  to  have  been  a  sign  as  to  the  exact 
length  of  time  Christ's  ministry  would  continue  on 
earth,  precisely  as  the  experience  of  Jonah  in  the 
fish  was  a  sign  of  the  length  of  time  Christ  would 
remain  "  in  the  heart  of  the  earth."  [Matthew  xii. 
40.]  But  the  strongest  evidence  is  furnished  by  the 
4  Passovers  which  were  celebrated  during  the  period 
of  said  ministry. 

The  years  therefore  ran  as  follows: — 

Christ  began  his  ministry  when  30  years  old  .       Fall  a.d.  29 

1st  Passover  John  ii.    13 Spring     "      30 

2nd       "  "    v.      1 "        "      31 

3rd        "  "    VI.    4 "        "     32 

4th        "  "    xi.  55 "         "      33 

As  regards  the  exact  date  of  the  fourth  Passover 
we  know  by  astronomy  that  there  was  a  full  moon 


DATE  OF  THE  CRUCIFIXION  117 

at  4.15  p.m.  on  Friday  April  3  a.d.  33.  On  that  day 
therefore  Messiah  was  "cut  off." 

At  this  point  let  us  glance  backward  490  years, 
or  70  weeks  to  the  Passover  of  B.C.  458,  and  we  shall 
meet  the  children  of  Israel  making  their  Exodus 
from  Persia  [Ezra  viii.  31]  "going  forth"  under  the 
leadership  of  Ezra,  by  "commandment"  of  Arta- 
xerxes  ordering  them  "to  restore  and  to  build  Jeru- 
salem." In  view  of  this  marvellous  fulfilment  of 
prophecy,  how  frivolous  do  seem  the  charges  of 
those  who  claim  that  the  Book  of  Daniel  is — "a 
bundle  of  loose  leaves" — "a  consolatory  political 
pamphlet" — and  "written  as  historic  fiction  in 
168-165  B.C."  Pretty  good  fiction,  is  it  not?  for  one 
writing  in  B.C.  168  to  make  declaration  that  a  cer- 
tain event,  figured  from  a  given  starting  point, 
would  positively  take  place  at  the  end  of  490  years! 
We  have  many  writers  of  historic  fiction  in  our  own 
day,  but  none  so  venturesome  as  "the  chief  of  the 
governors  over  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon."  Those 
who  call  the  predictions  found  in  the  Book  of  Daniel 
— "historic  fiction" — simply  destroy  the  meaning 
of  words  and  pour  contempt  upon  the  Word  of 
God. 

Our  explanation  robs  the  ixth  chapter  of  Daniel 
of  all  its  mystery  and  shows  why  the  LORD  called 
him   "Daniel  the  prophet." 


CHEONOLOGY. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST. 

Christ  was  born  in  the  year  B.C.  2.  In  support 
of  this  announcement  we  do  not  propose  to  give 
a  table  of  dates,  setting  forth  the  ideas  of  the 
Christian  Fathers  who  wrote  prior  to  the  5th  cen- 
tury. Nor  those  of  Dionysius  Exiguus,  of  the 
Venerable  Bede,  or  of  Roger  Bacon,  all  of  whom 
wrote  between  the  5th  and  the  14th  centuries. 
Neither  shall  we  give  those  of  Archbishops  Usher 
and  Lloyd  in  the  17th  century,  nor  those  of  Dr. 
Hales  and  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  in  the  18th  century, 
nor  those  of  Prideaux  and  of  the  talented  chronolo- 
gist  H.  Fynes  Clinton  in  the  19th  century.  We 
find  our  authority  in  Eusebius  the  "  father  of  eccle- 
siastical history "  [a.d.  325]  and  give  with  it  a  20th 
century  Chart  in  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  his 
statement. 

Of  course  back  of  Eusebius  lay  Jewish  tradition, 
which  in  modern  times  has  found  expression  in  the 
"  Jewish  Calendar "  of  E.  H.  Lindo  ;  London, 
1838.  Under  the  title  of  the  "  Book  of  the  Gener- 
ations," that  noted  chronologist  states  that  the 
Christian  Era  began  with  the  year  a.m.  3760,  in 
other  words  with  the  30th  day  of  August  b.c.  2  as 
shown  in  the  diagram. 

(121) 


122 


LOCATION  OF  CHRISTIAN  ERA 


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THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  123 

Eusebius,  who  as  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  spent  most 
of  his  life  in  Judea,  possessed  rare  opportunities  for 
verifying  Jewish  tradition.  It  is  very  significant 
that  his  scholarly  research  led  him  to  accept  and 
endorse  a  date  for  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  Era,  which  is  identically  the  same  as  that 
preserved   by  the  Jews. 

The  New  Testament  plainly  declares  that  Christ 
was  born  shortly  prior  to  the  death  of  Herod  the 
Great.  The  most  perfect  history  we  possess  of 
Herod's  life  is  found  in  the  works  of  Flavius 
Josephus,  who  acknowledged  indebtedness  to  the 
"  Commentaries  of  King  Herod, "  and  to  the  works 
of  "Nicolaus  of  Damascus,  the  historiographer  of 
He  rod. "  It  should  be  remembered  that  for  his 
facts  Josephus  depended  entirely  on  others,  because 
Herod  died  almost  40  years  before  Josephus  was 
born  and  therefore,  however  accurate  Josephus 
might  be  individually,  he  was  liable  to  be  mistaken 
by  the  error  of  others.  Let  us  turn  to  the  xivth 
book  of  his  "  Antiquities,"  because  it  contains  a 
statement  of  more  than  ordinary  precision  which 
bears  directly  on  the  date  of  Herod's  death  and 
may  rightly  be  regarded  as  the  corner  stone  of 
Josephus'  calculations  regarding  Herod's  reign.  It 
is  there  recorded  that  Hyrcanus  began  to  rule  in  the 
"  3d  year  of  the  177th  olympiad  "  [b.c.  £#].  At  first 
sight,  one  cannot  help  being  pleased,  that  in  so  im- 
portant a  matter,  Josephus  took  special  pains  to  be 
exact,  for  nowhere  else  in  all  his  writings  does  he 


124  CHRONOLOGY 

give  the  year  of  any  olympiad.  It  was  his  custom 
simply  to  announce  the  olympiad  and  leave  the 
reader  to  guess  in  which  one  of  four  years  the 
event  took  place.  However,  in  this  one  instance  he 
gave  the  year  and  left  nothing  to  be  supplied.  This 
apparent  accuracy  has  led  many  readers  astray,  for 
they  have  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  his  statement 
is  not  historically  correct. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  Pompey  took 
Jerusalem  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  B.C.  63,  that  he 
deposed  Aristobulus  and  made  Hyrcanus  monarch. 
According  to  this,  the  brothers  reigned  about  6 J 
years.  Josephus,  however,  states  that  one  reigned 
3  years  and  6  months  [xiv.  6.  1],  and  the  other 
reigned  only  3  months  [xv.  G.  4],  making  a  total 
of  3}  years  instead  of  6f  years.  Here,  then,  we  have 
discovered  a  huge  gap  of  about  3  years  in  the 
reckoning  of  Josephus.  We  believe  this  is  the  first 
time  that  public  attention  has  been  directed  to  this 
grave  error:  we  say  grave,  because  it  has  led  the 
Christian  world  astray  and  fostered  the  belief  that 
Christ  was  born  in  B.C.  5  instead  of  the  year  B.C.  2. 
Happily,  Eusebius  escaped  this  pitfall. 

It  is  evident  from  the  chart,  that  in  the  case  of  6 
reigns  Josephus  stretched  his  figures  and  made 
them  occupy  103  years  instead  of  100  years.  This 
proves  that  his  figures,  in  part,  were  matters  of 
calculation  and  not  rigid  statements  of  historical 
facts.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  the  joint-rule 
exercised  by  Augustus  and  Tiberius  between  a.d. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  125 

11  and  14,  because  that  mode  of  reckoning  is 
unnatural.  The  day  of  one's  death  is  the  natural 
dividing  line  between  reigns,  and  as  Augustus 
Caesar  died  on  the  19th  day  of  August,  a.d.  14 
Tiberius  Caesar  began  to  reign  on  the  same  day. 
Besides,  to  admit  a  joint-rule  would  hopelessly  add 
another  3  years  to  Josephus'  error  and  put  him  in 
the  light  of  having  carried  his  process  for  stretch- 
ing figures  6  points  instead  of  3  points.  What  he 
did  do  in  that  line  is  bad  enough,  without  making 
matters  worse. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  work  of  contracting 
Josephus'  figures  has  been  accomplished  in  part  on 
the  second  line,  but  the  final  rectification  appears  on 
the  last  line.  These  results  maintain  the  integrity  of 
all  that  Josephus  said  about  the  following  olympiads, 
viz:  the  179th,  184th,  185th,  187th,  and  192nd  — 
They  also  accord  with  the  discovery  of  Zumpt 
regarding  a  double  term  in  the  governorship  of 
Cyrenius.  We  reach  a  solid  ground  on  the  15th 
year  of  Tiberius  Csesar  and  arrive  at  last  at  the 
first  Easter  Sunday,  viz:  April  5,  a.d.  33,  the  end 
of   the   seventy   weeks    of   the    Prophet   Daniel. 

In  conclusion  we  observe,  that  the  life  of  Christ 
on  earth  covered  a  period  of  33  J  years,  and  that 

CHRIST  WAS  BORN  IN  THE  FALL  OF  B.C.  2. 


YEARS  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

The   dates   given   herewith   have   been   collated 
from  the  chart  which  accompanies  this  volume. 

Birth — about  time  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles     Fall  B.C.     2 

Christ  in  the  Temple a.d.  11 

His  baptism  [Luke  in.  1  and  23]    .      .    Summer  "      29 

Began  his  ministry Fall  "      29 

Purgeth  the  Temple Spring  ' '      30 

Disciples   baptize   throughout   Judea      ....  30 

Spends  the  year  in  Galilee "31 

John  Baptist  imprisoned Spring  "     31 

The  Apostles  sent  out "31 

John  beheaded Spring  ' '     32 

Fed  the  multitudes,  5000  and  4000 "32 

The  transfiguration "32 

Feast  of  Tabernacles,  see  ->  „ 

V       .    Thursday,  Oct.  9th  32 
John  vii.  2  and  14         J 

Completed  3  years  of  ministry. 

Parable  of   fig-tree,  barren  for  [■ "32 

3  years,  see  Luke  13.  6 

Feast  of  dedication    .      .      .     Thursday,  Dec.  18th  "     32 

The  crucifixion Friday,  April  3rd  ' '     33 

The  resurrection Sunday,  April  5th  ' '     33 

Ministry    lasted    3*    years,    or  ,  FflU  of  AJ)<  2g  tQ  gpring  33 

"one-half  a  week"  of  7  years  i 

The  Ascension Friday,  May  15th  a.d.    33 

(127) 


II. j 


YEARS  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  HEROD. 

The  dates  here  given  are  the  result  of  a  geometric 
plotting  of  the  facts  given  in  the  works  of  Flavius 
Josephus :  —  see  chart  with  this  volume. 

Herod  the  Great  was  born  in b.c.   71 

Made  Governor  of  Galilee  when 

18  years  old  (not  15)  and 

the  9th  year  of  Hyrcanus 

Made  king  by  the  Romans 

Married  Mariamne    "I 

Captured  Jerusalem J 

Battle  of  Actium  in  7th  year  of  his  reign  . 

Hyrcanus  II.  put  to  death  \ 

Herod  recrowned  by  Caesar  J 

Mariamne  put  to  death 

Herod  afflicted  with  madness 

1st  year  of  famine 

2nd       "  " 

Herod  offered  to  rebuild  Temple 

The  priests  began  work 

Sanctuary  dedicated    ...  

Cloisters  finished 

1st  of  Caesar's  Games 

2nd  "         "         

Alexander  and  Aristobulus  put  to  death   . 

Total  eclipse  of  the  Moon    ....   January  9th 

[See  "Eclipses  Past  and  Future,"  by  Johnson]  . 

Death  of  Herod  the  Great        ....       February  B.C.    1 

(129) 


54 

40 
37 

31 
30 

29 

28 

24 

23 

21 

19 

18 

11 

9 

4 

4 

1 

1 


ASMONEAN  DYNASTY. 

This  government  was  founded  by  a  priest  named 
Mattathias,  who  had  five  sons  named  respectively: 
— John,  Simon,  Judas,  Eleazar,  and  Jonathan. 
The  dynasty  lasted  130  years  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  Idumean  dynasty  of  Herod  the  Great.  The 
dates  here  given  result  from  a  geometric  plotting  of 
the  facts  given  by  Josephus  and  the  books  of  the 
Maccabees. 

Mattathias  began  to  rule  in B.C.    167 

Judas  Maccabeus  began  to  rule  in "      166 

The  feast  of  lights  instituted  November  26th  "      165 

Alcimus,  high  priest "162 

7  years  interregnum "159 

Jonathan  Maccabeus "152 

Simon  made  governor "      145 

Simon  Maccabeus "      143 

Temple  cleansed  May  4th "      141 

John  Hyrcanus "      135 

Judas  Aristobulus,  king "105 

Alexander  Janneus "      104 

Queen  Alexandra "        76 

Hyrcanus  II "        67 

Aristobulus "        67 

Hyrcanus  II "        63 

Antigonus "       40 

Antigonus  put  to  death "       37 

(131) 


REIGNS  OF  THE  CHALDEAN  AND  MEDO- 
PERSIAN  KINGS. 

These  dates  have  been  established  after  careful 
study  of  the  works  of  Herodotus,  Thucydides, 
Ctesias,  Josephus,  Berosus,  Manetho,  Ptolemy, 
Diodorus,  Julius  Africanus,  Eusebius,  Egibi  tablets; 
also  Annalistic  tablet  of  Cyrus  and  "  Records  of  the 
Past." 


MONARCHS. 

B.C. 

Nabopolassar  began  to  reign         .      .  626 

Siege  of  Jerusalem 606 

Nebuchadnezzar 605 

Astyages,  king  of  Media     ....  593 

Evil-Merodach 562 

Nergal-sarra-utsur 560 

Cyrus  the  Great,  king  of  Persia  .      .  558 

Laborosoarkhodos 556 

Nabonadios,  alone  \  .      .      .  556     14 

Nabonadios  and  Belshazzar  J  .      .      .  541       3 

Babylon  taken  by  Cyrus  ....  538 

Cyrus  and  Darius  1 538       2 

Cyrus  alone  J 536       7 

Cambyses 529 

Gomates 522 

Darius  Hystaspes 521 

Xerxes 485 

Artabanus (usurper)  

Artaxerxes  Longimanus    ....  465 

Xerxes  II.  and  Sogdianus 

(133) 


Reigned. 
21  years 

43 
35 

2 

4 
29 
A  year. 


17  3'ears. 


j\  year. 
36  years. 
20  " 

40  " 

mos. 


134      CHALDEAN  AND  MEDO-PERSIAN  KINGS 

b.c.  Reigned. 

Darius  Nothus 425  29  years 

Artaxerxes  Mnemon 396  36 

Ochus 360  21     << 

Arses 339  2    " 

Darius  Codomanus 337  4 


